Since 2011, Connecticut law has protected employees who experience discrimination based on gender identity or expression in the workplace. Gender identity discrimination occurs when an employer discriminates against an employee because of the person’s gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person’s physiology or assigned sex at birth. Connecticut is one of twenty-one states nationwide that prohibit this form of discrimination at work.
In 2020, the United States Supreme Court caught up with the 21 states already prohibiting gender identity discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has long prohibited employers from discriminating against an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. But in 2020, in Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination also prohibits discrimination against gay and transgender people, because it is impossible to fire someone for being gay or transgender without firing them, at least in part, based on sex.
Gender identity discrimination in the workplace may include:
- Being fired after your employer finds out about your gender identity, planned transition or gender confirmation surgery.
- Being denied access to gender neutral workplace restrooms.
- Employer’s refusal to use appropriate pronouns.
- Harassing a transgender employee, including constant jokes, slurs or inappropriate comments about your gender identity, physical threats, refusal to change your name on work related documents, organizational charts, mailing lists, etc.
- Permitting and/or refusing to investigate claims of harassment by coworkers and supervisors.
Our Gender Identity Lawyers Can Help You
At Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C., we can deliver the experience that Connecticut employees need for their toughest fights. If you are being discriminated against at work because of your gender identity or expression, contact our attorneys today for a consultation.
