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United Kingdom
A company that owns a McDonald’s restaurant franchise in Washington D.C. has been ordered to pay $930,000 in damages to a former transgender employee who faced harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
The jury overseeing the landmark case agreed with the allegations made in the suit which claimed that employee Diana Portillo Medrano faced harassment and retaliation from her co-workers and supervisors after filing a complaint of discrimination.
The verdict of the trial found that two companies that hold franchise rights to the restaurant where Medrano worked, International Golden Foods LLC and MCI Golden Foods LLC, violated the D.C. Human Rights Act.
The Act prohibits retaliation against employees who make complaints on the grounds of discrimination, as well as making discrimination and harassment based on gender identity illegal.
The case, believed to be the first verdict relating to transgender employment discrimination under the Act, concluded in August after a lawsuit was filed in 2021.
The franchise owners “discriminated against Ms. Medrano because of her gender identity and retaliated against her in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act,” the lawsuit complaint stated.
McDonald’s franchise owners breach the D.C. Human Rights Act
Medrano began working at the D.C. McDonald’s franchise in 2011, initially as a customer service representative, before being promoted. Two years later, Medrano began her transition as a trans woman.
The lawsuit claimed that in the following years, she suffered ridicule at the hands of her colleagues and supervisors, including using her male name, known as ‘deadnaming.’
“Despite a successful five-year career with McDonald’s marked by raises, promotions, and awards and absence of discipline, Plaintiff Diana Medrano’s supervisors and co-workers subjected her to a barrage of taunts, laughter, ridicule, and harassment because she is a transgender woman,” it said.
“Managers and supervisors routinely referred to her as male despite her expressed request that they respect her gender identity as female, encouraging co-workers to harass her relentlessly in like fashion.”
The lawsuit also claimed that when Medrano complained to her managers, they claimed that the harassment was justified because she “hadn’t legally changed her name.”
Jury rules trans employee was fired for filing discrimination complaint
In 2016, Medrano was fired after she filed a discrimination complaint with the D.C. Office Of Human Rights, having reportedly been harassed by a supervisor for using the women’s bathroom. The supervisor allegedly shouted at Portillo that she was a man and should not be using the women’s bathroom.
According to the lawsuit, the franchise claimed they fired Medrano for lacking the proper legal authorization to work in the US. Attorneys representing International Golden Foods (IGF) refuted the allegations detailed in the lawsuit.
“IGF admits that Ms. Vega informed Plaintiff that her employment had to be terminated due to Plaintiff’s voluntary and unprompted statement during the investigation that she was not authorized to work in the United States,” a letter written in 2021 contesting the lawsuit stated.
But Medrano’s lawyers stated the jury upheld her claim in the lawsuit that this reason was a “pretext” for her firing and that she was instead fired due to the complaint she filed.
Jonathan Puth, an attorney representing Portillo, said that the same McDonald’s knowingly hired other employees without legal authorization to work.
“The jury clearly found that IGF continually used unauthorized employees, hired and employed unauthorized workers knowingly,” Puth told the Washington Blade. “And they never fired anyone for that reason at any of their stores except for Diana,” Puth said.
“And so, the jury found that the reason given was a pretext for retaliation,” he continued. “That was what was motivating them. They were motivated to retaliate against her because she kept complaining about discrimination.”
“Hero” McDonald’s employee awarded $930,000 in damages after 11-year battle
Medrano was awarded $930,000 in damages by the jury, broken down into $700,000 in punitive damages and $230,000 in damages due to the emotional distress caused by the harassment.
The statement shared by Puth’s legal firm announcing the verdict hailed Medrano for her determination and resilience after fighting the discrimination she suffered for 11 long years.
“Diana is our hero,” he said. “She stood up for her rights in the face of terrible harassment and kept fighting even after she was fired for doing so. This verdict puts other employers on notice that tolerating harassment of transgender employees is both unlawful and costly.”
