 |
 |
Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn is suing Ga. lawmakers in federal court after being fired as a state employee when she transitioned to living as a woman fulltime. (Photo by Matt Schafer)
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: MATT SCHAFER
COMMENTS |
| 
A transgender woman filed a federal lawsuit against the leaders of the Georgia General Assembly and Sewell Brumby, legislative council, in an effort to get her job back.
Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn claims she was fired from her job as legislative editor because of her transition from male to female. A lawsuit filed July 22 named Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), President Pro-Tempore of the Senate Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, lawyer Brumby and Robyn Underwood, the state’s legislative financial officer.
“It was one of the last things I expected,” Glenn said at a press conference July 22. “I knew [transitioning] would surprise everyone in the office, but I didn’t think [Brumby] would do this.”
The suit claims the state violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal protection, in part because firing her disregarded her need to undergo transition as part of necessary treatment.
“This isn’t really about me; this isn’t really about transgender people,” Glenn said. “It’s about how everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect.”
In October 2006, a year after Glenn began working for the state, she said that she informed her supervisor Beth Yinger that she was transsexual and wished to transition from male to female. Glenn was diagnosed with gender identity disorder, a medical condition in which people do not identify with their biological bodies.
Through the following year, Glenn updated Yinger on her progress while she continued to come to work dressed as a male. She lived as a female outside work.
On Oct. 16, 2007, Brumby fired Glenn after confirming she was transitioning. When she asked why she was being terminated, she said Brumby told her she would make other employees uncomfortable and that lawmakers would find it “immoral.”
Glenn reported difficulty finding a job, which may now be compounded by a possible trial that could bear out the private details of her life.
GA. OFFERS NO PROTECTIONS
Georgia has no employment nondiscrimination law, and as a result Lambda Legal, a national gay and transgender organization, filed the suit on behalf of Glenn in the federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Georgia is an at-will state, [and] that means that employees can be fired for a good reason, a bad reason or any reason at all, but they cannot be fired for an illegal reason,” said Cole Thaler, transgender rights attorney for Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta.
“The Constitution provides that public employees cannot be discriminated against,” Thaler said. “That means even employees in an at-will state can assert constitutional protections for their job.”
Glenn is attempting to regain her job by invoking her right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Lambda Legal is drawing on two cases out of Ohio where court rulings supported the right of transgender government employees to transition and keep their jobs.
Glenn said she knows of four other transgender employees with the state of Georgia who have transitioned and remain in their positions.
Lambda Legal Supervising Senior Attorney Gregory Nevins of Atlanta said because Glenn worked for the state, she had greater protections than if she worked for a private employer in Georgia.
Cagle, Johnson and Richardson could not be reached for comment. Since Brumby’s office is the legal representative for the legislative branch, the lawmakers had to seek outside representation. Thaler said the firm of Holland and Knight has not yet responded to the lawsuit. Representatives at that firm did not return calls seeking comment.
Nevins said naming Richardson, Johnson and Cagle was not politically motivated.
“It was our information both through what Mr. Brumby told Vandy Beth during the meeting, and what was told to her even prior to the meeting, that they would be consulted,” Nevins said. “So it wasn’t just Mr. Brumby making the decision. So if we did not have that information, we wouldn’t have included them.”
Richardson and Johnson both supported the 2004 state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Georgia. Earlier this year, Richardson reportedly refused to allow the House to consider a hate crime bill that would have included protections for gender expression and sexual orientation.
GAY LAWMAKER ‘NOT SURPRISED’
The state’s only gay elected lawmaker Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) found Brumby’s reported words and actions disconcerting.
“[Speaking for myself] who can’t even get a privilege resolution passed dealing with gay issues … I am not surprised,” Drenner said of the alleged motivation for the firing.
Drenner also took issue with the idea that lawmakers would somehow be affected by Glenn’s transition. The Legislative Council’s ...
|
