The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that the US Army must financially compensate Tamara Lusardi for employment discrimination she experienced while working at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
The ruling follows a verdict previous issued in Lusardi's case in October in which the EEOC labeled actions taken against her by supervisors were discriminatory. Those actions included barring Lusardi from the women's restroom and continuing to use male pronouns and her former name. The EEOC found at that time that the supervisors were violating a federal law which "which prohibits discrimination based on conduct that does not adversely affect job performance."
In the more recent decision, handed down on April 1, the EEOC gave the Army 120 days to investigate the amount of compensatory damages and establish a figure. It also mandates various training programs for workers at Redstone's Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, recommends discipline for the two unnamed supervisors and requires that Lusardi be granted "equal and full access to the common female facilities immediately."
Lusardi served on active duty from 1986 to 1992 and was honorably discharged as a sergeant, then served in the Alabama National Guard until the end of 2000, according to records provided by the Transgender Law Center, which represented Lusardi in the case.
Lusardi served in Desert Storm and is a disabled veteran. She works as a software quality assurance specialist.
She transitioned from male to female in 2010.
This decision makes it clear that, like everyone else in the workplace, transgender employees should be judged by the quality of the work we do, not by who we are.
--Lusardi