Applebee's sued for sex discrimination against transgender hostess

Christopher J. Eberhart | Rockland/Westchester Journal News

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HAWTHORNE — A transgender Applebee’s hostess was harassed and mocked by coworkers before she was fired because of her sex, according to a federal lawsuit.

“Employees repeatedly stood in groups gawking, laughing and pointing at the aggrieved individual, and made crude disparaging remarks about her being transgender,” says the lawsuit, which was filed on June 8 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, on behalf of a transgender hostess.

The hostess, referred to in the suit as Danielle, worked for the Applebee’s in Hawthorne for two weeks, from Sept. 11 to Sept. 25, 2015.

The restaurant’s general management declined comment. The lawsuit is against Apple-Metro, which owns the particular Applebee’s, which the suit said is in Hawthorne. A representative from Apple-Metro didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

During her employment, she was called “tranny,” repeatedly asked if she had male genitalia, and referred to as “Daniel” and by male pronouns by her coworkers, the lawsuit says.

She asked her coworkers to stop multiple times, but they didn’t, the lawsuit says.

“One of the employees responded by saying, ‘I don’t know what the big deal is because you’re a tranny … you must be used to this by now,’” the lawsuit says.

She told the general manager about the harassment “at least” three times, but nothing was done, EEOC said in the legal action.

On Sept. 21, 2015, a “concerned” co-worker complained about the harassment to the area director, who met with the restaurant’s general manager four days later, the lawsuit says.

Danielle was fired later that day “in retaliation for engaging in protected activity, namely opposing sex harassment,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit doesn’t give Applebee's reason for firing the employee. It does mention that she was never issued any performance warnings.

The EEOC, which declined to comment, is seeking unspecified monetary compensation for the “unlawful” firing and alleged discrimination.

The EEOC is also asking the court to order Applebee’s to institute new policies to avoid future sex discrimination.

Twitter: @ChrisEberhart2