Employment trends expert discusses Hobby Lobby ruling and what employers can learn from their costly mistake
An Illinois appeals court recently upheld a ruling deeming that Hobby Lobby’s bathroom policies violated a transgender employee’s human rights. Hobby Lobby now must pay the employee $220,000 in damages, along with potential additional damages and fees.
“Denying this transgender woman the right to use the women’s bathroom has cost Hobby Lobby a great deal of money, but as a large corporation, they can easily absorb the damages,” says Rob Wilson, President of Employco USA and employment trends expert. “However, other mid-size and small businesses could be decimated by such a ruling.”
No wonder many employers are wondering what they can do to avoid similar fines. There are many new regulations that companies need to adhere to if they don’t want to wind up facing civil suits like Hobby Lobby.
“In 2020, the Supreme Court enacted a landmark decision to extend new protections to LGBTQ+ workers,” says Wilson. “The Supreme Court made changes to federal civil rights law to include additional protections to gay, lesbian and transgender workers, providing pushback to previous attempts that sought to limit the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”
And, Wilson says that every time a new judgment is handed down, such as the Illinois appellate ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, it only strengthens workers’ rights and creates a firmer legal precedent.
“LGBTQ+ rights are on everyone’s minds right now,” says Wilson. “If your company isn’t being proactive about these changing expectations, you could find yourself in hot water. Whether you currently have transgender, nonbinary, bigender, or agender employees, you need to be sure that you’re covering all the bases when it comes to respecting your employees’ gender identities.”
Here is what employers need to do to ensure that their workplace is diverse and inclusive:
- Be aware of the correct terminology. “It’s okay if you don’t understand all the complicated in’s and out’s of gender identity, but you need to make sure you aren’t using harmful terminology, such as saying ‘transgendered’ instead of ‘transgender.’ It might be a good idea for your human resources managers to have a seminar with a local LGBTQ+ advocacy group so they can be educated about preferred terminology and more.”
- Allow employees to use the bathroom of their choice. “OSHA recommends that employers permit employees to use the bathroom of their choice, meaning that a transgender woman should be permitted to use the female bathroom, or a transgender man should be permitted to use the male bathroom,” says Wilson. “You might also consider unisex bathrooms, family bathrooms, or single-stall bathrooms to simplify things.”
- Be tactful. “Many transgender people say they hate comments like “Wow! I couldn’t tell you weren’t born a woman!” or “I really thought you were a man!” You might be trying to compliment them, but it comes off as demeaning or even bigoted,” says Wilson. “None of these comments belong in the workplace.”
- Don’t ask overly personal questions. “Inquiring about a person’s health is always a no-no in the office,” says Wilson, “And this shouldn’t change just because a person is transgender. Don’t ask about their hormones or if they plan to transition. It is both ethically and legally out-of-bounds.”
- Head problems off before they happen. “Have an office-wide meeting with any managing personnel to let them know about how these issues will be handled. Update your handbooks to reflect that discrimination against transgender employees will not be tolerated. And, update your office dress code policy so that it is not gender-specific. In other words, instead of saying, ‘Men must wear slacks’ or ‘Women must wear skirts,’ say ‘Business casual’ or ‘No ripped clothing, logos, etc. allowed.”
For more on this topic, please contact Rob Wilson at rwilson@thewilsoncompanies.com.