A former male police officer applied for and was offered a job with a federal government agency, which was then rescinded days after the agency was informed the job applicant was transitioning to female. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in what is being lauded as a groundbreaking step in protecting the rights of employees to express their gender, has ruled that adverse employment decisions based upon one’s gender identity are violations of Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination in the workplace. (See Macy v. Dept. of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ), Appeal No. 0120120821, Agency No. ATF-2011-00751 (April 20, 2012).)
According to the EEOC decision, which was based on a jurisdictional appeal and therefore treated the complainant’s allegations as true, Mia Macy applied for a position with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the Department of Justice in California (the agency). She was offered the position as the result of a telephonic interview, pending the results of an extensive background check. Macy had multiple communications with the entity conducting the background investigation and the government contractor providing the position.
