Saks Claims It Has the Right to Discriminate Against Transgender Employees

Is it legal to discriminate against an employee for being transgender? The Justice Department, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and some courts say no. But in a motion filed in federal court, Saks & Co. says yes.

In its filing, Saks asks that an ex-employee’s discrimination lawsuit be dismissed “because transsexuals are not a protected class under Title VII,” the part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that bans employment discrimination based on race, religion, or sex. As Law360 reported, the plaintiff, a transgender woman named Leyth Jamal, alleges that she was instructed to “separate her home life from her work life” by behaving in a more masculine way, and ultimately was terminated because she spoke up about a hostile work environment. Saks’s motion, filed Dec. 29 in the Southern District of Texas, denies the allegations but also counters that “Although Plaintiff’s discrimination claim is also couched in terms of ‘gender’ discrimination, Plaintiff’s Complaint makes clear that the gravamen of Plaintiff’s claims is discrimination based on Plaintiff’s status as a transsexual,” and thus not covered by the Civil Rights Act.