February 22, 2008
PUTTING THE TRANS BACK IN TRANSIT
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Discrimination shouldn't be along for the ride |
Transgender rights are human rights. A New York Supreme Court justice upheld that notion when he ruled on Monday that employees of the New York City Transit Authority aren't exempt from New York City Human Rights Law, and thus can be held liable for discrimination on the basis of gender expression. The ruling means that a lawsuit against a Transit Authority employee for discriminating against transgender subway rider Tracy Bumpus can move forward. It also means that 40,000 Transit Authority employees must abide by New York City's Human Rights Law, which unlike New York State law, protects people on the basis of gender identity.
As Justice Robert J. Miller explained in his detailed decision: "The Human Rights Law affords protection to transgender people in New York City. By riding the subway, a transgender person doesn't become less of a person and lose the protection of the Human Rights Law."
This is the first time that a New York State court has ruled that Transit Authority employees are not exempt from the antidiscrimination provisions of the New York City Human Rights Law.
"This won't just affect Ms. Bumpus but everyone of transgender experience, and puts the ball for transgender justice a little further down the field," said Robert Bacigalupi, staff attorney at Housing Works and counsel for Bumpus. "It establishes that the more than 40,000 employees of the Transit Authority are not immune from liability when discriminating against anyone, whether it be on the basis of race, creed, or, as here, gender identity and expression. This is a welcome precedent."
Bumpus, represented by Housing Works, filed suit against the Transit Authority and one of its employees in 2006, alleging that Transit employees subjected her to a series of transgender-phobic ("transphobic") incidents, beginning with a vicious and sustained transphobic tirade on a subway platform after she requested assistance with her MetroCard.
Next stop, victory
This week's ruling is the latest in a string of victories in the case of Bumpus v. New York City Transit Authority. In separate motions, the Transit Authority had moved to dismiss both the claims against it and its employee. Last month, the Appellate Division unanimously upheld a New York State Supreme Court decision in which it refused to dismiss Bumpus' claim against the Transit Authority for negligent supervision, training, and retention of the lead employee in question.
While Bacigalupi expects that the Transit Authority will appeal the most recent decision, as they did the previous motion, that's not necessarily a bad thing. "That would just mean we'd probably get a decision ruling in our favor at a higher level."