Former restaurant worker wins $30,000 in pronoun discrimination case

A former restaurant worker has won $30,000 in a discrimination case against their previous employer in British Columbia. The BC Human Rights Tribunal has found that a colleague and owners of the restaurant where Jessie Nelson previously worked for discriminated against them in the workplace.

Nelson is non-binary, gender fluid, transgender person who uses they/them pronouns. However, their former colleague repeatedly misgendered them by using "she/her" pronouns and nicknamed them "sweetheart," "honey," and "pinky" - in reference to their pink hair at the time.

Tribunal member Devyn Cousineau said in a 42-page decision that while "sweetheart" and "honey" may be welcome terms of endearment to close family or romantic partners, they have no place in a professional setting.

"In Jessie Nelson's case, there was an added layer of harm" that their colleague repeatedly referred to them as such. "This undermined, erased, and degraded their gender identity in their place of work. This is discriminatory," said Cousineau, adding that the "pinky" nickname was still "patronising and unwelcome."

Nelson was also terminated from their work four days following an intense stand-off between them and their former colleague. On their sacking, Nelson was only informed that they were too "militant" and came on "too strong too fast."

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The tribunal did not accept one of the owner's "non-discriminatory" reasons, which attributed Nelson's sacking to insubordination and their disputed "hit" on their colleague's back - which Nelson denied.

"The respondents argue that these two reasons constitute a complete and non-discriminatory explanation for the termination. I do not agree," stated Cousineau. "I have no difficulty concluding Jessie Nelson's gender identity was a factor - if not the factor - in their termination."

According to Cousineau, the reasons the owners gave that Nelson came off "too strong too fast" and too "militant" stem from Nelson's call for an inclusive workplace that made some employees and the managers uncomfortable.

"Ultimately, the employer concluded that it would be easier to terminate their employment than to meaningfully address any of these issues. In doing so, they discriminated against Jessie Nelson," Cousineau said.

The Tribunal member then ordered the restaurant's owners and Nelson's colleague to pay them $30,000 as compensation for injury to their dignity, feelings, and self-respect. The restaurant has also been ordered to add a statement in its employee policies that will affirm their workers' rights to be addressed with their own personal pronouns. A mandatory training about human rights in the workplace should also be conducted for all staff and managers of the restaurant.