One in 10,000 of us was ‘born in the wrong body’. Some face discrimination as a result.
Transgender
A news story from America was interesting to us at Hatton James because it is rare for us to deal with the issue of transgender discrimination.
In this news story a female, previously male, student accuses her college of harassment after using the female toilets. A security guard refused to take her word about her gender and needlessly created a confrontation.
Transgender discrimination – Here at Hatton James
Hatton James’ lawyers have that rare experience of transgender issues. We advised an employer who had an employee going through the process of changing his sex.
We put in place a plan which included the HR staff and the employee’s managers learning what the process entailed and the acceptable language to use, right down to when to use which pronouns. We ensured the equality policy was comprehensive. Before her return we helped them to start a dialogue with the employee, aimed at reassuring her of the company’s policy and the support that she could expect and agreeing a plan for the transition at work. It included a personal congratulation and covered issues like toilets, user account names, a support structure, and disclosure to clients and colleagues.
Finally, we ensured that her colleagues understood the equality aspects as part of ongoing training, that they had the opportunity to ask questions through an appropriate channel and that the HR officers were teed up for the big day.