Intentionally using the wrong pronouns or names for transgender employees is prohibited–even in the face of a sincerely held religious belief.
The Case: a music teacher, citing sincerely held religious beliefs, claimed he was wrongly disciplined for refusing to use transgender students’ chosen names and pronouns. The court did not agree and the school district’s actions were upheld.
Why would this case matter to your workplace? A few factors: the court assumed the religious beliefs were sincere, which shifted the burden to the school to show they could not accommodate the beliefs. The school met this burden because students gave evidence that using only their last names (an initial accommodation) and refusing to acknowledge their preferred pronouns and names caused emotional harm. Importantly, the school’s mission to include and educate all students was thwarted by the music teacher’s religious beliefs. There was no way to accommodate the music teacher without undue hardship–the standard under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
A few takeaways for your workplace:
- Most employees are at will and can be terminated for any reason or no reason. Here, there was a claim of religious discrimination.
- Even without the mission to include and educate, if your workplace has a policy or mission statement referencing inclusion, respect, or diversity, you can and should honor preferred names and pronouns.
- There is substantial evidence that a misgendered employee could suffer emotional harm–real damages.
- Training and updating policies to reflect transgender language is a best practice–particularly in the many states that recognize these rights. Even if your state does not:
- An employee who is intentionally misgendered could bring a claim under Title VII for sex discrimination
There are loads of resources on this issue and of course, we can help.