The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a complaint today with the Florida Commission on Human Relations against a McDonald’s restaurant in Orlando, Fla., after the restaurant’s manager reportedly refused to hire Zikerria Bellamy because she is transgender.
TLDEF says Bellamy, who is 17, applied online for a job with the restaurant on July 10. Then on July 28, after the restaurant managers found out she is transgendered, she got a voice mail message in which one of the managers declared she would never be hired there because “We do not hire faggots.”
Bellamy said: “I just wanted to earn to some money and was willing to work hard at this job. In the current economy, jobs are really hard to find. I never expected to be judged on who I am, instead of being judged on whether I can do the job.”
3 Comments
Winning this lawsuit seems like a slam dunk. And yes, McDonald’s does hire “faggots.” They just might not know it. Nor should it matter.
Sounds like a fraudulent message to me.
Sharla, it’s not a slam dunk. Transgendered people are not protected by any laws in Florida. There have been some cases that were brought up under a more general “umbrella” law, but this is nowhere near a sure thing – even if the call is legitimate.