LAS HARDWOODS ALSO ENGAGED IN GENDER IDENTITY DISCRIMINATION
Two companies -- an Alabama Hilton hotel, operated by Harmony Hospitality LLC., and a Chicago hardwood flooring company, known as LAS Hardwoods -- were each sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for engaging in alleged unlawful discrimination predicated upon their employees’ “sexual orientation and/or gender identity,”
In Alabama, the hotel employee – a night auditor – was fired because the manner of his dress was thought to be “feminine” and wasn’t consistent with “management’s preferred appearance for male employees.” While in Chicago, the flooring company created a “hostile work environment” for a gay sales associate because of his “perceived feminine style of dress, speech and mannerisms.”
Believing that such conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (EEOC v. Harmony Hospitality LLC, case no. 1:24-cv-00357), and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (EEOC v. LAS Hardwoods, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-04899), seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In a written statement, EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride noted that, “During this Pride month, we want workers to know that they should be able to work in any job without fear of being harassed or fired because of who they are or who they love …. Federal civil rights law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County, makes it illegal to discriminate against an employee for their sexual orientation or gender identity, and the EEOC will vigorously enforce those protections.”
Do you think that was all a bit too loud?
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