Transgender Employment Discrimination Victory!
Kim Dower v. King Soopers, Inc. [transgender employment discrimination] Victory!
Kim Dower worked as a pharmacist for the grocery chain King Soopers, a subsidiary of Kroegers, in Denver. For most of her life, Kim was known as a man named "Randy." In March 2003, Kim told her pharmacy supervisor that she was a transgender woman in the process of transition. The supervisor told her that he had no problem with Kim being transgender, and that Kim was a good pharmacist. A year later, after a further process of gender transition, Kim again approached her supervisor and asked for permission to dress as a woman in the workplace. (Kim had already been dressing in her chosen gender everywhere else.) This time the supervisor reacted differently. He told Kim that King Soopers management had instructed him that under no circumstances was she to be allowed into the pharmacy dressed as woman, and if she came to work in women's clothing, she would be told to leave work. Frustrated that she had approached the issue of her transition in a gradual and open manner with King Soopers, only to be told that she could not express her gender identity openly in the workplace, Kim called the CLIP Legal Hotline and asked for help.
CLIP cooperating attorney Betty Tsamis, with the Denver office of the firm Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison, & Lewis, P.C., and John C. Hummel, CLIP Legal Director, represented Dower. At first CLIP attempted to settle the matter informally by negotiating with King Soopers, however company officials insisted that they must be granted total access to Kim's medical and psychological records and the right to question her counselors and medical providers. Only then would King Soopers exercise its "discetion" to allow Kim to dress in her chosen gender. Having reached an impasse over the unprecedented demands of King Soopers to delve into Kim Dower's medical privacy and to control her right to express her gender, CLIP filed charges of discrimination with the Denver Anti-Discrimination Office and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July 2004. Attempts to reach agreement with King Soopers remained at a stalemate until March 2005, when the Denver Anti-Discrimination Office issued a probable cause discrimination, finding that King Soopers had discriminated against Kim Dower as a transgender woman. The issuance of the determination against King Soopers was historic, because the agency had never issued a finding of discrimination against any employer until Kim's case. Following issuance of the administrative determination, King Soopers withdrew its demands for medical records access, and allowed Kim Dower to dress in her chosen gender in May 2005.
Kim Dower's Charge of Discrimination, Denver Anti-Discrimination Office, July 1, 2004
CLIP Press Release, 7-1-04, Kim Dower Files Charges of Discrimination Against King Soopers
Probable Cause Determination, City of Denver, Dower v. King Soopers, March 1, 2005
CLIP Press Release, 3-2-05, City of Denver finds King Soopers discriminated in Kim Dower case
CLIP Press Release, 5-10-05, Kim Dower dismisses discrimination charges against King Soopers
Denver Post Article, 5-11-05, Dower settles King Soopers charges*
New York Times Article, 7-31-05, Transgender employment rights, featuring Kim Dower*
*Note: Pursuant to Title 17 United States Code Section 107 ("fair use"), this material is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in receiving the information for educational and research purposes. CLIP has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of the article, nor has the originator endorsed or sponsored CLIP.