Federal Suit Filed on Behalf of Minnesota Transgender Employee

June 8, 2015

A lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges a Minnesota company subjected a transgender employee to sex discrimination.

The lawsuit was filed against Shoreview-based Deluxe Financial Services Corp. According to the EEOC, after longtime employee Britney Austin began to present as a woman in the company’s Phoenix office and informed her supervisors that she was transgender, the company refused to let her use the women’s restroom.

The suit accuses Austin’s supervisors and co-workers of causing a hostile work environment, including using hurtful epithets and intentionally using the wrong gender pronouns.

The EEOC accuses the company of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, including that based on transgender status.

The EEOC said officials there first attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In a statement, the company wrote that the EEOC claims lack merit and they planned to defend their policies and practices, which align with federal and state standards.

“Deluxe Corporation takes the safety, security and dignity of all our employees very seriously,” the statement read.

Topics Lawsuits Minnesota

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Latest Comments

  • June 12, 2015 at 6:04 pm
    Get your facts straight... says:
    No, I'm not giving a pass either. What he did was wrong. No one is arguing that. However, the family did what was required and reported the incidents to authorities. If th... read more
  • June 11, 2015 at 2:56 pm
    Bill says:
    Get your facts straight, I don't know if Duggar got a pass or not but the officer to whom this was reported is now serving prison time (aparently multiple decades) for child p... read more
  • June 11, 2015 at 2:13 pm
    Captain Planet says:
    Made a mistake? You are giving him a pass, too. I call that more than a mistake. In fact, it's called molestation and in his case, incestual molestation. Who does that? Psycho... read more

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