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Transwoman Sues Burlington Coat Factory For Harassment

Maya Wicks-Perez has filed a lawsuit against Burlington Coat Factory’s San Francisco’s branch alleging a long string of toxic sexual harassment and discrimination. Being transgender is risky. Many transpeople face harassment, threats, and even death for defying the restrictive norms of a society which sees them as being perverts and worse. Wicks-Perez informed the store that she was going to transition back in 2001, and began what is often a long process of gender change over the next eight years. The journey from one sex to the other can take as little as two years, but for many transpeople, it can take decades.

In her lawsuit, Wicks-Perez alleges that one of her supervisors had no issue with her transition, but that the senior management told her that it was wrong. That management fostered an atmosphere that was toxic, and openly hostile. She was subjected to graphic sexual conversations. One of her supervisors handed her pornography. Co-workers grabbed at her body. Customers verbally assaulted her with vile epithets, and even physically assaulted her.

The management and the security personnel did nothing. They ignored her complaints and stood passively by while these actions took place. “It seemed as if their attitude was that it was okay for me to be treated that way because I am a transgender person. No other employee was treated the way that I was,” she has stated.

A 2006 study into this issue found that roughly a quarter of transpeople have been the victim of sexual harassment, and over half have been victims of discrimination. However, just over one in ten have filed any kind of complaints or suits regarding this. This study was small, and local to San Francisco, but it is not unusual in the wider population.

It is hard to be the victim of discrimination and harassment, but when one is also depressed, unhappy, anxious, and close to being dysphoric, the result can be fatal. Many transpeople take their own lives because they give in to that despair. Still others ruin their health and their lives through drug, alcohol, tobacco and food abuse as they seek a way to alleviate the pain. Fear, anxiety, and depression become almost ingrained into the psyche to the point where many transpeople develop a form of social anxiety disorder that takes effort and time to conquer.

That Maya Wicks-Perez is willing to fight is wonderful. That she has the ability to fight is even better. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act was expanded to cover gender identity in 2004.

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more.

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