The United Stated Office of Special Counsel announced today that the Department of the Army engaged in "frequent, pervasive and humiliating" discrimination against Tamara Lusardi on the basis of her gender identity. Lusardi is veteran and a civilian software specialist who transitioned from male to female while working at the US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
The OSC investigation found that the Army allowed the Desert Storm veteran to be referred to by other employees as "sir" and "it" after her transition in 2010 after she had legally changed her name, driver's license and security clearance and began dressing as a woman and forced her to to use a single-user, gender-neutral restroom out of concerns that other employees might be "uncomfortable" sharing a restroom with her. In addition, her workload was decreased.
The OSC, a federal investigative and prosecutorial agency, said that coworker preferences alone “cannot justify discriminatory working conditions,” since it could reinforce the very stereotypes and biases that nondiscrimination laws are intended to protect against. According to the report, Lusardi should be able to use bathrooms designated for her gender identity.
Ninty percent of transgender indiciduals report mistreament or discrimination in the workplace, forcing many to hide their gender identity.
Discrimination forces many transgender individuals into extreme poverty, according to Sasha Buchert, staff attorney at the Transgender Law Center. They experience double the rate of unemployment, twice the rate of homelessness, and 85 percent more incarcerations compared to those who are employed, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey found.
Lusardi said she was unable to sleep because she was frozen out of work and told to stop talking to co-workers about her transition.
I really care about my job, and I really wanted to be professional. But people were saying, ‘Is it Todd or Tamara, I don’t know,’ and smirking at me, even after I had sent an e-mail explaining my transition. I just wanted to crawl under the table.
--Lusardi
Lusardi was represented in the proceedings by the Transgender Law Center, which filed a complaint with the OSC in 2012.
The OSC report noted that the restroom restriction “had the effect of isolating and segregating” Lusardi from other female employees, “serv[ing] as a constant reminder that she was deprived of equal status, respect, and dignity in the workplace.
The OSC investigation found that Lusardi's transition had no discernible or detrimental impact on her work or the work of others.
In response, the Army agreed to provide training to correct and prevent future discrimination, the OSC said. It also now permits Lusardi to use the restroom associated with her gender identity.
The Army did not respond to further requests for comment, but it agreed to the OSC’s recommendation to provide workplace diversity and sensitivity training, with a specific focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.
I applaud Ms. Lusardi for standing up not only for her rights, but for those of all federal employees,. The Army deserves credit for seeking to right the wrongs that Ms. Lusardi faced and for creating a more welcoming environment for its LGBT employees.
--Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner
Lusardi said she is busier now that the Army is giving her back some of her workload since this past April.
We (transgender federal employees) have served our country in silence. I hope my case and this decision will help other transgender people feel safe enough to bring their full authentic selves to work. This report makes clear that we don’t have to put up with being mistreated on the job just because of who we are.
--Lusardi