Transgender worker sues Redford McDonald's charging sex harassment, civil rights violation

Allie Gross | Detroit Free Press

Shortly after starting work at a Redford McDonald’s in April 2015, La’Ray Reed says, she began facing discrimination.

The transgender woman says her managers called her names like “boy-slash-she,” groped her genitals, required her to use a broom closet as a bathroom and asked her inappropriate questions about her sexual orientation and preferences on a regular basis.



The bigotry accusations are the focus of a civil rights lawsuit the Sugar Law Center and Schulz Gotham filed on behalf of Reed last month against McDonald’s and Jon Campbell, the owner of the franchise where the 25-year-old worked.

According to the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, the two violated Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, a 1977 bill that promises equal rights for employment, housing, education and public services, regardless of one’s religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex or marital status.



"The Elliott-Larsen Act reflects the State of Michigan’s desire to protect folks from discrimination," said Sugar Law attorney Anthony Paris, who points out that Reed also has been an active member in the Detroit chapter of Fight for $15, a group that pushes to increase living wages and working conditions for those in the restaurant industry.

He notes that sexual harassment is only growing in this sector since often service jobs are not unionized and lack protections. Reed, he says, is helping to change the zeitgeist by coming forward.

"La’Ray not only endured discrimination in the workplace but she was brave enough to stick up for herself, something many folks don't like to do, but will improve the fast food industry for others."

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According to the lawsuit, soon after Reed started working at the Redford McDonald’s, she became the subject of ridicule among her three managers. In addition to calling her names, asking inappropriate questions, groping her on one occasion and relegating her to a broom closet to go to the restroom, the managers often sent Reed home early, cut her hours and tried to bar her from interacting with customers by keeping her working in the back.

When Reed brought up the disparate treatment to Campbell, she initially was blown off. When she finally got him to bring the issue up with one of her managers, the manager retaliated by cutting her hours and eventually terminating her, the lawsuit charges.

A McDonald's spokesperson said: “As a company, we are committed to the well-being and fair treatment of all people who work in McDonald’s restaurants and discrimination of any kind is completely inconsistent with our values. As this is an ongoing legal matter involving an independent owner operator, we cannot comment further.”

The lawsuit, which was filed May 25, comes days before McDonald’s announced a new LGBTQ Pride Month promotion, "Lovin' is Lovin," where they will be serving rainbow-themed fry boxes at select Washington, D.C., and San Francisco stores.

The company’s Pride campaign and the current lawsuit highlight a disconnect between the increase in LGBTQ visibility nationally and the very real hardships and discrimination that those within the community, particularly transgender people, still face on a daily basis. For those in the LGBTQ community, it showcases what can often feel like corporate sponsorship of a lifestyle, simply because it’s in vogue or woke, without necessarily doing the work to make sure actual inclusion is occurring.



“McDonald’s behavior smacks of hypocrisy — pretending to support the LGBT community by putting up flags, but not taking action against the unsafe culture it has created in the workplace for LGBT workers,” Heather Aymers, the community resource manager at Affirmations, a metro Detroit LGBTQ community center, said in a statement following the lawsuit.



Reed’s suit reflects sentiments seen in several other complaints that have been made against McDonald’s for instances of harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation over the years.

An EEOC complaint filed in Kansas City last year alleged that a general manager refused to help an employee find a first aid kit after suffering an injury on the job, saying, “You are gay and you might have HIV.” In another EEOC complaint, also filed last year, a Miami McDonald’s employee alleged that his manager routinely called him “cover girl,” and once rubbed his genitals against his buttocks. The Miami employee requested to transfer restaurants and was denied the request before his pay and hours were reduced.