Danielle Ryan, a trans woman, “was mocked and taunted by co-workers at engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff where she worked as a network systems analyst” and is now suing Parsons Brinckerhoff. Danielle worked for Parsons Brinckerhoff for ten years when harassment by co-workers began.

Bay Area Reporter:

Danielle Ryan, 44, filed suit Wednesday, March 29, in Sacramento County Superior Court, claiming harassment, gender discrimination, failure to maintain a work environment free of harassment, retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract.

Ryan, who lives in Sacramento, said she was employed at the firm for over 10 years and consistently received outstanding performance reviews. She claims that only after her transition in February 2005 did she suffer “pervasive harassment from co-workers and supervisors” and “was threatened with termination, demoted to part-time status and wrongly forced to leave the company.”

“When I let them know I was transitioning, they sent me home from work the same day,” said Ryan.

Her attorney, Waukeen McCoy, of San Francisco-based McCoy and Associates, said, “This lawsuit is important because it will send a message to companies that discrimination or harassment of homosexuals and transgender people will not be tolerated and will not be ignored.”

“To discriminate in any way against an employee for undergoing sex reassignment or otherwise failing to conform to stereotypical notions of how a man or a woman should look or act is prohibited by both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act,” stated McCoy.