Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
These days we have been hearing a lot about which bathroom a transgender individual is allowed to use. While this has not been a major issue for decades, especially in places like Los Angeles, a recent attempt in North Carolina to ban transgendered individuals from using the bathroom of their choosing through what has become known as a “bathroom bill” is what brought this issue back into spotlight.
Specifically, the state governor passed what is officially called the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The act claims to be for the purpose of creating statewide consistency in bathrooms by making them all single-sex occupancy. Essentially, it claims it will be safer and more consistent if a person uses the restroom that is for the gender to which they were assigned at birth as opposed to the gender to which they currently identify if they are transgender. It is obviously why many people see this as an anti-transgender bill, and many think it violates the civil liberties protected by the constitution.
This has resulted in some businesses saying that their restrooms (in states other than NC) are for anyone to use, and this in turn has led some conservatives to boycott those stores. While this is clearly a major issue, discrimination against transgendered individuals is nothing new. This is especially true in the workplace.
One of the major problems faced by younger transgendered individuals at work is that they do not know what their rights are and what their employers and co-workers should not be allowed to get away with. According to a recent news feature from the Windy City Times, an organization in Los Angeles has developed what they are calling a Transgender Youth Employment Toolkit to help people who feel discriminated against and are not sure what to do. While this is clearly a big help to many people, if you are facing workplace discrimination in Los Angeles, you should contact an experienced employment attorney as soon as possible to see if you have a valid claim against your employer.
The toolkit is not designed to be given directly to the employees, but rather to caseworkers that are already working with transgendered youth. Many of the city’s transgender youth find themselves in less fortunate situations due to the widespread discrimination and may already be working with a caseworker. This is especially true for transgender youth who are also members of a minority group, as this makes it much more likely that discrimination will be a major issue.
The toolkit was developed over time with the agency picking 14 participants in 2014 to be the first to receive the additional services. This was considered a wraparound service program, in that, while it was designed to help with employment issues, there were also programs and services designed to aid in other aspects of their participants’ lives to make things easier and avoid many of the problems typically faced by at-risk youth in the City of Los Angeles, especially those who are also transgendered.
Contact the employment attorneys at Nassiri Law Group, practicing in Orange County, Riverside and Los Angeles. Call 949.375.4734.
Additional Resources:
Transgender Youth Employment Toolkit released, June 18, 2016, Windy City Times
More Blog Entries:
SuperShuttle Files Lawsuit in California Over Worker Classification, May 24, 2016, Los Angeles Disability Discrimination Lawyer Blog