Court OKs Transgender Lawsuit by State Employee

(Pictured: Vandy Beth Glenn)

A federal judge has cleared the way for a discrimination lawsuit by a filed by a former state employee who claimed she was fired because she was undergoing a sex-change procedure. On Friday, a U.S. District Court Judge denied an attempt by Georgia legislators to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it could lead to a new round of court scrutiny of public employees. Vandy Beth Glenn claims she was fired from her job as a legislative editor for the General Assembly because she told her boss she was going to live as a woman full time. Glenn’s lawyers said the decision is a signal that the state Legislature can be challenged "for violating her constitutional rights."

(Associated Press)

Transgender Ga. official wins legal battle

Riverdale City Council member Michelle Bruce (top), Doraville City Council candidate Brian Bates, Decatur City Commissioner Kecia Cunningham and East Point City Councilmember Lance Rhodes. (Photos file or courtesy of candidates.)

Georgia's top court ruled in favor of a transgender politician who was slapped with a lawsuit by two political opponents who claimed she misled voters by running as a female.

The Georgia Supreme Court's unanimous ruling on Monday found that the two political opponents who filed the lawsuit failed to produce evidence of fraud, misconduct or illegal action after claiming that Michelle Bruce bamboozled voters by identifying herself as a female.

Bruce, who was believed to be the state's first transgender politician, landed one of four council seats in Riverdale, Ga. in 2003. Running unopposed, she pledged to attract more jobs and residents to the struggling town 12 miles south of Atlanta.

Last year, however, three people signed up to run against her, and she failed to capture enough votes to avoid a runoff against second-place finisher Wayne Hall.

The third- and fourth-place finishers, Georgia Fuller and Stan Harris, filed a lawsuit after the primary that identified Bruce as "Michael" and sought a new election.

It's unclear whether most voters knew of Bruce's transgender status before the lawsuit was filed. She has declined to say whether she has had surgery, but said she always identified herself as transgender.

"I'm Michelle," she said when the suit was filed. "I'm the same Michelle they elected four years ago."

Hall won the runoff, and Bruce blamed the lawsuit for her defeat.

Meanwhile, the complaint made its way through Georgia's legal system. In its decision Monday, the court ruled for Bruce and concluded that "none of these alleged irregularities is specific enough to cast doubts" on the election.

Gay rights groups said the lawsuit appears to be the first in the country that accused an elected official of lying to the public because he or she is transgender.

"I am not aware of any other case involving the issue of whether a transgender candidate is defrauding the citizens," said Cole Thaler, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a gay rights group.

Bruce's attorneys said they felt vindicated by the ruling.

Michael King, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said he was disappointed and surprised by the decision.

"We think there were significant irregularities and misconduct to reverse the election," he said.

On the Net:
Georgia Supreme Court: http://www.gasupreme.us

(The Associated Press)

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Transgender Ga. woman sues over firing

A former state employee claimed Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that top Georgia legislative officials fired her because she said she would come to work dressed as a female as she prepared for a sex-change procedure to transform from man to woman.

Vandy Beth Glenn said Tuesday she was illegally fired from her job as a legislative editor for the Georgia General Assembly after she told her boss she was going to live as a woman full time.

She said Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby fired her because the gender transition would make her colleagues feel uncomfortable and would be seen as "immoral" by Georgia legislators. The lawsuit also claims House Speaker Glenn Richardson, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate President Pro-Tem Eric Johnson were in on the act.

"It's been devastating. I never thought this would happen, for one thing. And not from a public sector job," said Glenn, a transgender woman formerly known as Glenn Morrison. "This is about the right of everybody to be treated equally with respect."

"I think the lawsuit is without merit," said Brumby, who declined to discuss the case further. Richardson declined to comment. Other Georgia House and Senate staffers did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Glenn was hired in 2005 as a legislative editor, charged with proofreading the hundreds of measures and proposals filed each year for grammar and spelling errors. The same year she was diagnosed with gender identity disorder, a condition defined by strong feelings of discomfort with a person's sex at birth and identification with the opposite gender.

For about a year, she continued to come to work as a man by day and dressed as a woman at home at night. But in October 2006 Glenn told her supervisor she planned to undergo a gender transition to become a female. Physicians had advised her to start dressing as a female throughout the transition to help her adapt.

In June 2007 she told her office she was continuing with the gender change, and gave her supervisors pamphlets on how to handle the transition and a photo album with several pictures of Glenn dressed as a woman.

Her supervisors confronted her a few months later. Brumby called her into a meeting in October 2007 and asked whether she was undergoing the transition, according to the filings.

When she confirmed, she said Brumby told her it would be viewed as immoral and said it couldn't "happen appropriately" in the workplace. She was fired and given 10 minutes to clean out her desk.

Glenn said she knows the lawsuit could result in a bruising legal fight, but she's weighed the consequences.

"It has to be done. Someone has to do it," she said. "And I seem to have been elected.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

(The Associated Press)

Fed. lawsuit charges discrimination at capitol

Glenn

Several high ranking members of the Georgia General Assembly are being sued in federal court, accused of discriminating on the basis of sexual discrimination.

A transgendered woman who worked as an editor in the state Office of Legislative Counsel, filed the case in US District Court early Tuesday. Former Navy lieutenant Vandy Beth Glenn (pictured above) was born a man, but believes she is living in the wrong physical body.

Glenn says she was fired a month after telling her supervisor she wanted to live publicly as a woman. Glenn says her direct supervisor was "very supportive." However, the lawsuit alleges the manager in charge of the Office of Legislative Counsel decided to terminate Glenn after speaking other named defendants.

"It's been devastating," Glenn says. I never thought this would happen to me for one thing. I certainly never expected it from a public sector job. I was on unemployment for while. Been looking for a new job. It hasn't been easy. It's been a tough year."

Federal law prohibits sexual orientation based discrimination.

Among those being sued are House Speaker Glenn Richardson, Senate President Casey Cagle, and Senate President Pro Tem, Eric Johnson. Glenn's direct supervisor has not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

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