Transgendered individuals with sex discrimination law

For the first time, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that transgendered people are protected from bias in the workplace.  Now, a refusal to hire or discriminate on the basis of gender identity is by definition sex discrimination under federal law.

The law itself hasn’t changed, simply the Commission has expanded the standard sexual discrimination clauses to include transgendered individuals. 

“This decision is important because the EEOC is the agency with lead authority to interpret and enforce the nation's employment rights laws," said Jennifer Pizer, legal director of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA.

The particular case involved Mia Macy, an Army veteran, former police detective, and California woman who applied for a contractor job with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  She was told that she qualified for the job as a ballistics technician but when she informed the contractor that she was changing her gender she was informed that funding for the job was cut.  Later, she learned that someone else was hired for the position.

"The term 'gender' encompasses not just a person's biological sex but also the cultural and social aspects associated with masculinity and femininity," the unanimous 5 member EEOC decision said.