Chick-fil-A in downtown Decatur, Georgia. (Image from Google Maps)
A transgender woman alleges she was terminated from her job as Director of Operations for a Chick-fil-A in Decatur, Georgia because of her gender identity.
The lawsuit, filed by law firm Morgan & Morgan in Atlanta’s north district court on June 29, alleges sexual harassment, discrimination and unlawful retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The suit states that Erin Taylor — identified in the lawsuit by her legal deadname — was hired at the Chick-fil-A in downtown Decatur, Georgia, in August 2021, and starting from her first day of employment was subjected to sexual harassment from a fellow employee — identified in the suit as Sammy Canady.
According to the suit, Taylor went to a shift manager and advised her of the sexual comments made to her by Canady. The shift manager advised Taylor that “she did not feel comfortable addressing the situation” and advised Taylor to reach out to franchise owner Joe Engert.
The suit alleges that during a meeting between Taylor, Engert and the location’s kitchen director, it was revealed that Taylor is transgender, leading Engert to tell Taylor that “it should be an honor that with [Taylor] being a transgender woman that someone liked her enough to hit on her.” The suit also alleges that during the same meeting, Engert explained that if the harassment continued, “they would have to focus more on the person claiming the harassment to see if there is an issue.”
A meeting was then held with Engert, Canady and the director of operations in which Taylor’s gender identity was revealed to Canady, according to the lawsuit. After the meeting, Canady continued harassing Taylor but this time with anti-LGBTQ remarks, the suit states.
The harassment continued between August and November 2021 from Canady and several other employees who would intentionally misgender Taylor and harass her about her gender identity. On Nov. 1, Engert terminated Taylor’s employment alleging Taylor walked off one of her shifts and was repeatedly tardy.
“Erin went into this job with the reasonable expectation that her coworkers and managers would accept her as part of their team and work together to successfully operate the restaurant,” wrote Morgan & Morgan attorneys Ryan Morgan and Jeremy Stephens in a statement. “Ms. Taylor alleges that, instead of the ‘positive and productive place to work’ Chick-Fil-A says they strive for, she found a cesspool of hate and discrimination.
“Rather than address the alleged discriminatory and illegal work environment,” they continued, “the franchise owner allegedly piled on before eventually firing her. We are committed to seeking justice for Ms. Taylor and accountability for the horrifying treatment she suffered through and hope to ensure all Chick-Fil-A franchises never treat another employee this way again.”
According to the suit, Taylor is seeking general, punitive and special damages as well as reinstatement.
