In August 2016, Alexandra de Souza E Souza, who is transgender, got a job as a retail assistant at Primark in Oxford Street (West).
The interviewer agreed ‘Alexandra’ could be shown on her name badge, but said HR and payroll had to be set up in her official birth name of ‘Alexander’.
Before she started work, HR staff erroneously changed her title from Miss to Mr and her name from Alexandra to Alexander. That meant male information was printed on her name badge and the daily allocation sheets which were used by supervisors on the shop floor.
Staff subjected Alexandra to unfair treatment on the basis of her gender identity.
For the first few weeks, a supervisor called Alexandra by her preferred name, but then started using “Alexander” instead, and laughing when she was corrected. Other staff sprayed men’s perfume over Alexandra until she coughed, made comments about her sexuality, called her “evil” and “a joke”, and said she had “a man’s voice”.
In one incident, Alexandra was in the female toilets when an electrician needed access, and a colleague told him there were “no ladies” in there.
Although she complained, Alexandra wasn’t taken seriously, and was told to “calm down” because she was “drawing attention to herself”.
Alexandra resigned because of the remarks that were made and the lack of action taken to address them. She felt bullied out of the job, insecure about her gender identity, developed panic attacks and was unable to return to work for some time.
She brought a claim against the store for constructive dismissal. She was awarded over £47,000 to cover compensation for injury to feelings and loss of pay and pension contributions.
What Primark should have done
The tribunal found that Primark failed to deal with the matter appropriately, which amounted to direct gender reassignment discrimination.
The company should have had systems in place to preserve confidentiality for their transgender employees, keeping Alexandra’s legal name private.
What this means to you
Your employer should have a written policy on how to deal with new or existing staff who are transgender or who wish to undergo gender reassignment, ensuring that ensure that transgender discrimination and harassment is referred to in all its equality policies and training materials.
If you’re trans, you shouldn’t be treated differently to anyone else (whether it’s intentional, a one-off, or through a rule or policy), and you shouldn’t be made to feel uncomfortable by what’s said or done in the workplace.
For more information, please read our page about gender reassignment discrimination.
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