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Court Rules In Favor Of Trans Woman Fired By GA Legislature

On 6 December, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by a lower court which ruled that the Georgia General Assembly discriminated against Vandy Beth Glenn. She was fired from her job as a Legislative Editor after she informed her supervisor that she was planning to transition from living as a man to living as a woman.

The decision was unanimous. Judge Rosemary Barkett wrote for the three-judge panel that “An individual cannot be punished because of his or her perceived gender-nonconformity. Because these protections are afforded to everyone, they cannot be denied to a transgender individual. . . . A person is defined as transgender precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes.”

She wend on to write that “We conclude that a government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a transgender or transsexual employee because of his or her gender non-conformity.”

Greg Nevins, the Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Regional Office, stated “The court could not have been more clear: It is unfair and illegal to fire a transgender employees because their appearance or behavior transgress gender stereotypes. Employers should take note of this important ruling.”

He went on to say “The law is on our side, but everyone shouldn’t need a lawyer to help them fight workplace discrimination. Congress must pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) because we still need a federal law to tell employers unequivocally that discrimination against LGBT employees in the workplace is illegal. We are proud of Vandy Beth for standing up for her rights—her courage has helped clear the path for others.”

Lambda Legal explained that:

Glenn worked for two years in the General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Counsel as an editor and proofreader of bill language. She loved her job, but living as a male was increasingly painful and distressing for Glenn, who has a longstanding female gender identity. Glenn’s health care providers diagnosed her with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and agreed that gender transition was necessary for her health and well-being. In 2007, Glenn informed her immediate supervisor, Beth Yinger, that she planned to proceed with her transition from male to female, and showed Yinger photographs of herself in professional female attire. Yinger passed the information on to her boss, the General Assembly’s Legislative Counsel, Sewell Brumby. After confirming that Glenn intended to transition, Brumby fired her. Brumby conceded in court papers that Vandy Beth’s “intended feminine appearance” contributed to Glenn’s termination.

Glenn stated “Although the past four years have been both uplifting and frustrating, I have remained optimistic that we’d prevail—and certainly a 3-0 decision from a federal appeals court is quite a compelling statement about the discrimination I endured. I’m extremely grateful to everyone at Lambda Legal and I hope this decision means no one else will have to go through what I did. I’m very happy!”