Discrimination in the workplace : the firing of a transsexual / Phyllis E. Berry ... [et al.]

P. Berry, K. MacGuffee, J. Rush, S. Columbus

The purpose of this study is to compare the benchmark cases of Audra Sommers, a transsexual who was fired from her job on April 25, 1980, to more recent cases to determine if workplace discrimination and laws have changed for transsexuals since 1980. To explore these issues, we conducted personal telephone interviews with two transsexuals and examined pertinent legal cases since the Sommers' cases. Our two case studies revealed that they had not experienced discrimination in their workplaces. In regards to the court cases, we found conflicting results-sometimes the courts determined that sex and gender are synonymous in terms of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII protection, while other times they ruled they are not the same. Implications of the findings are discussed.[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]