Transgender - Cross Dressing Issue

GBeaty · October 2001

Are there any provision in Florida Employment Law, specfically the Orlando areas, since there are county specific laws, that afford individuals the right to cross dress at work. We have a specific dress code with required standards for males and one for females. I wanted to tell the individual asing to cross dress that he must follow the existing company uniform policy and that since he is male he must comply with the male uniform standards. However, before I do I wanted to make sure that there was no provision under Florida Law allowing cross dressing. Thank you gbeaty

WOCO Frank · October 2001

Suddenly, all my issues seem so trivial.

Dress code problems are always some of the stickiest, but throw a transgender wrinkle in there... regardless of where Florida law stands, it's going to be touchy. Please keep us updated on this one!

Theresa Gegen TX · October 2001

I don't know about Florida law, but their might be a legal issue if the reason the employee wants to cross dress is based on doctor's orders (for example, if the employee is undergoing a sex change -- at some point, the medical personnel may tell the employee to start living as the opposite sex). So you probably need to check this out with local employment attorneys.

Good Luck!

GBeaty · October 2001

Received advice from employment attorney today. No provisions in Florida law for transgender/cross dressing protection. The individual asking is not under doctor's orders to dress as a female so we can and are advised to stick with the existing uniform policy for all associates. Uniform policy gives specific guidelines for male associates and female associates so he will need to comply with standards for male associates. We have consistently enforced the uniform policy for all associates which is a positive thing. Thank you for your input. gb

Tony Kessler · October 2001

Here are some insights on this issue from Tom Harper, editor of Florida Employment Law Letter (for more information about the monthly newsletter that Tom and his colleagues write, go to [url]http://www.hrhero.com/flemp.shtml[/url]):

I am not aware of any Orange County ordinance, and Florida law doesn't designate sexual preference as a protected class. Dress codes are upheld if they're for legitimate business reasons and applied to all. However, at least one administrative hearing officer in Florida, in a 1991 Jacksonville case, held that a transsexual cross dresser was "handicapped" within the coverage of the Florida Human Rights Act. The medical evidence at hearing established that "gender dysphobia" was a handicap. If he dresses like a female employee, which restroom will he use? Will that cause problems with female employees? It gets complicated! Please call to discuss options. Tom Harper

G. Thomas Harper, Esq.
Haynsworth Baldwin
Johnson & Greaves LLC
P.O. Box 40593
Jacksonville, FL 32203
[email]gth@jax.haynsworth.com[/email]
(904) 396-3000

Transgender - Cross Dressing Issue

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