Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A guy who undergoes a sex change gets fired from his job because (the now) she makes everyone a little too uncomfortable. Bonus card: The MTF transgender was fired from a city job.
A former city operations assistant at a Charlotte maintenance facility has sued the city, claiming she was fired because she had a sex change. Anne Marie Clukey, who worked for the city for nearly two years, said she was fired because she did not conform to her supervisor’s “gender stereotype.”
“I have been out for awhile working,” Clukey told the Observer this week. “I never had a problem like this before in other places I’ve lived.”
Clukey, 60 and born a male, had “gender reassignment” surgery in May 2001, according to court documents. She’s asking for at least $10,000. She previously lived in Portland, Maine, where she worked three years as an automotive shop manager. She said she had more than 40 years of experience in the automotive-maintenance industry, according to court documents.
Clukey worked at the city’s Seigle Avenue maintenance facility where police and other city vehicles are repaired. Coworkers at the facility referred questions about Clukey to city officials.
Mac McCarley, the city’s attorney, said a legal response has not yet been filed, but that the city will deny any liability.
“Transgendered individuals are not protected under the federal employment discrimination laws,” he said. [Charlotte Observer]
We’re not immediately jumping on Clukey’s side — she’s got to prove her case, after all — but it’s a likely story. And yet another walking example of why we need federal protection for our transgender brothers and sisters.
J
Disgusting. I wouldn’t claim to understand US politics but I think this is a clear case for a adoption of an EU style bill of human rights to be employed at a federal (hope I got that right, the one that’s not for individual states) level.
petted
@J: Yes, Federal law governs all states provided its constitutional in this case naysayers are likely to complain the government is encroaching on state rights but the government can do what it did back when it pressured all the states in setting the drinking age at 21 – withhold a portion of federal funds from the state. It is something that the movement has been working on getting passed – see ENDA – but the sticking point is getting it to pass in the Senate, we can get it passed in the house, which is frequently a sticking point for all sorts of legislation.
Forrest
Charlotte resident here. We have a mixed bag in this town. The county has a sexual orientation non-discrimination policy but not transgender inclusive. They are also going to pass domestic partner benefits for county employees this year. Democrats dominate City Council and County Commission but the former is a tough slog regarding our rights.
Like most cities the in-town neighborhoods are very liberal and gay friendly. The surrounding suburbia is most definitely not. But NC is newly blue this year so we are making progress. Slowly but surely.