Background: four years ago I was working at a Mexican restaurant for three months, got to know the ropes pretty well, but moved out of town to get my Master's degree. Now I've graduated but need a local job before I can travel for my career. There's a franchise of that Mexican restaurant in town, so I applied there, pretty much a shoe-in.
I scheduled an interview with the manager, Boomer kind of guy who I guess was one of the original managers when they started business in the 80's, friendly enough. He called me miss and used female pronouns, even though he reviewed my driver's license and should have seen the remaining gender marker on it. I thought he was just being polite, since I know I don't pass all the time, most of the time it doesn't bother me cause I know who I am.
Anyway, I've signed the paperwork, I'm set to start training Wednesday (interview was on Monday) morning, when I thought I should ask, “So, just to confirm, I can use the women's bathroom, right?”
And the breaks came screeching on. I had to explain that I was transgender, I had been living as a woman for 8 years, my name legally changed for 3. I had been out at the other location, and had no issues, confrontations, or arguments. But he had thought I was a cis woman, “no 5:00 shadow or anything”, but now he's worrying about “moms and kids” and “biological male” and now he's putting off training until Saturday and he has to talk to corporate.
I felt awful, like I had self sabotaged a surefire thing just cause I'm too honest for my own good, and I didn't have confidence in my appearance. But when I got home, I found that as of 2020 due to a Supreme Court case it is now against federal law to discriminate against gender identity in any part of the employment process, including hiring.
I'm not sure that I'd want to work there, obviously I wouldn't be welcome or comfortable with this manager and he might have talked to the other employee and poisoned the well already. But if he gives me the opportunity I'm going to chase it, possibly look into filing a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC.
I got a follow-up call yesterday saying now we're putting off my start date til next Monday, and they're getting lawyers to consult and stuff “to protect the staff, the customers, and you”, “make sure we're not breaking the law,” but the only hitch in the process remains that he doesn't want to hire me because of my transgender status. I recorded it from speakerphone onto my computer, my state is a one-party consent state regarding recording, and I have it on record that he has my signed documents on file, so if he claims I never filled them out I have evidence.