Posted on 05/18/2005 8:04:18 AM PDT by vox_freedom
SPOKANE -- A federal judge will decide if a U.S. Customs and Border Protection employee who has undergone a sex change suffered discrimination at the hands of co-workers. A six-day trial concluded yesterday.
Tracy Nichole Sturchio, formerly known as Ronald Sturchio, sued the Department of Homeland Security.
The non-jury trial was heard by U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley, who will rule in the near future.
Sturchio, 56, told The Associated Press yesterday it was difficult to relive the torment of the past few years during the trial.
"I had to sit on the stand and admit it tore me apart so bad I even lost confidence in myself," Sturchio said. "It's hard to admit that somebody beat you down like that."
Attorneys for the federal government had argued that past decisions held that transsexuals were not members of a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That landmark federal law made it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of sex, religion, race or national origin.
The government contended that Sturchio, in her lawsuit, never identified her sex, contending only that she was a "transgender person."
In an earlier decision, Whaley said it was clear she was being harassed because her co-workers wanted her to act like a male.
Sturchio said her new bosses at the agency's office in Spokane are much more positive and she is no longer being harassed. But she is still glad she filed the lawsuit.
"I had to stand up," she said. "I am who I am and I couldn't have lived with myself if I just ran."
Sturchio said her family, friends and co-workers helped her through the ordeal, with special assistance from her wife of 28 years.
"She's not about to let me go," Sturchio said.
Sturchio was born a male, but has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, according to court documents.
She has been on hormone therapy and last August underwent sexual reassignment surgery in Colorado, she said.
Sturchio's lawsuit said she was not allowed to wear a dress to work or use the women's restroom, and was subjected to sexual harassment and workplace discrimination starting in 2000.
The lawsuit seeks $500,000 for compensatory and punitive damages, along with an unspecified amount for mental anguish and emotional distress.
Sturchio has been employed by the former Border Patrol since 1991, and has worked at the Spokane office since 1998. She is a telecommunications specialist at the office in Spokane.
Sturchio supervised a crew of four employees assigned to install and maintain the patrol's telecommunications equipment, the lawsuit said.
I saw a documentary on Discovery Channel where the female therapist messing up some young married guy's head with this stuff said she thought it was horrible when the wives left the husbands because they "became women". Both the guys profiled in the show had their wives staying with them and nursing them through recovery. It was the most sick thing, how could those women think anything at all of themselves and stay in a situation like that. If my husband ever told me he needed to become a woman he would have just saved a lot of time and money on the operation, we own a great set of kitchen knives.
God sure is taking His sweet time sending in the locust.
I don't doubt that they teach that in college these days but, I think that one needs to backed up with a reference.
Genetic Identity Disorder Dismembering Yourself
Where are we going ... and what's this handbasket we're in?
The documentary I saw about a year ago was terrifying, it basically had a female therapist telling married guys "This is what is wrong with you and you need surgery to make you a woman." It seemed like the men and their wives were being totally brainwashed into this horrible change, neither one they profiled acted femine in any way, it was presented to them as if there were no alternatives. I was absolutely haunted by the program. I worry about "fringe diagnosis" being pushed on people that some simple drug or talk therapy could have saved from a miserable mistake. How much power do these Doctors have? Enough to destroy lives with an agenda of pushing acceptance for this stuff?
My sentiments exactly. Moreover, since we know that same-sex marriages are still illegal in the Socialist Republic of the First Dead White Man President, how can "she" still have a wife?
This is true, however they were able to squeeze into court by claiming the discrimination was not based on his transgender status but on “perceived” gender bias i.e. the other employees perceived him to be a female and thus discriminated against him.
The larger issue here is the devastating impact these situations can have in the workplace. Morale plummets, suspicion and accusations fly and counter allegations start to flood in. Here is an example:
Sturchio's lawsuit said she was not allowed to wear a dress to work or use the women's restroom.
What about the other women’s rights? Don’t they have a right to not share their restroom with a dude? If the government had granted him the right to use the female restroom wouldn’t they be violating the other employees rights and couldn’t they also file suit? And is a dress really appropriate attire of an electronics technician anyway?
Fortunately the government was the defendant in this case and they have plenty of money to litigate. These kinds of cases however, which take years and tens of thousands of dollars to litigate can quickly put a private company out of business.
We all know sexual harassment and discrimination when we see it. But the lines have been completely blurred through cases like this and employees, supervisors and managers are completely dumfounded as to how to deal with these type of situations.
Ya got that right. I'd add the Environmental Protection Act and Endangered Species Act to the list. That is, unless it was thought at the time that insects were so important that their mere existance on a site was enough to stop humans from constructing homes and building roads.
But I digress. How is it that a man who wanted to be a woman, is now in a legal position to sue his co-workers who might also have been confused about his gender doubts and subsequent medical operations to change his bodily functions?
and amputees are protected by ADA. so there's he/she/it's
other option...
yes....... IT..
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