[–]Confirm_restart
Not fired, but "managed out", with years of hostile work environment given a 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge' when it came to putting a stop to it.
Firing would have been too obvious, so they just made sure I was miserable and abused until I was forced to quit.
Same
I gathered evidence and arranged a meeting with management . They conveniently never could make it . Then they stoped scheduling me for 3 months. I reached out no reply finally when I sent a email stating the harassment and violence caused me to have panic attacks at work they fired me because due to that reasoning I was no longer able to perform the duties of the job
.
Yep, this is my experience as well. Usually they’ll just make you miserable and stress you out till you quit.
[–]BiAndHappy
Yes, I was. I had a job as an IT manager and every one of my reviews was positive.
After working there for a couple of years I started my transition. After about 6 months, I came out to the HR director after receiving her word that she wouldn't let others know yet until I was ready to come out.
Fast forward 5 weeks later, I was fired for "failure to build a high-performing team" (a bullshit reason).
In hindsight, I'm glad it happened. The job I have now is for a much more supportive and progressive company. But at the time, it really hurt. And looking back, I wish I had spoken with an employment lawyer and filed a lawsuit.
Edit: speech to text correction
[–]Whevyrn
I've been both fired and denied jobs.
Generally the firing was due to customers being uncomfortable with me being visibly trans and complaining or not performing womanhood to their expectations.
[–]Creativered4
Less so fired, and more so pushed to quit. My last job started getting toxic when I came out, but I stuck with it when all but one coworker left when we were bought out and got new management.
Then I had a new coworker who I came out to (still in the "visible trans" stage of transition) who was absolutely terrible and transphobic. So I complained to new management, and the transphobe was fired (for that reason as well as sexual harassment/inappropriate conduct and suspected withholding of our tips.) and I thought "ok, these new bosses are cool!". I was wrong. So at some point, more turnovers, it's me, one coworker, and a new boss, who had worked there prior and knew me pre-transition, who came back (and was given the job they offered me and two other coworkers...Red flag). So altogether 2 people at work knew, as well as upper management and HR.
Things just kept going further and further downhill, with only myself getting targeted, and not my other coworker, meaning it wasn't management trying to get all the old employees out....
It got to the point where the manager, who tried to be all fake "we're a family here", was reprimanding me for things I didn't do (including shit like
saying I was abusing a dog because it was being loud while I was brushing the dog, despite it being a husky, which is a breed that is loud naturally, who had a note on file saying she would scream the whole time and she's not in any pain or anything), and she even got other new coworkers in on it.
That's not the only thing I was accused of... New coworker accused me of being racist and fucking with her schedule, despite not ever doing so. The reason I was supposedly racist? Because according to her, I always fucked up her schedule and only her schedule. One single time I was making estimates for everyone, I forgot to put a matting fee on the estimate for one dog. She could have easily added it to the estimate before the dog checked in, or during check in. So
clearly lies were being told about me. I'm thankful that either they didn't out me (probably because they knew it would be bad if they did) or at the very least, if I was outed, the coworkers kept it hush hush... But at the same time, I was the employee who had been there the longest. I had singlehandedly run that salon when we had 3 groomers, a bather, no manager, and no receptionist. I had done so much for that company, and they made it clear they didn't like me, and that it wasn't anything to do with being an older employee. They were also all nasty to me when I had to call out on my last day due to a pet emergency that ended up with me having to put my beardie down. Fuck them.
[–]rallysato
I feel I was definitely denied jobs. I remember amazing phone interviews followed by in person interviews where the same person who loved me on the phone looked at me in shock.
I work for a company now that doesn't care, and after 1 year 6 months I'm on my way to a corporate promotion as an openly transgender woman.
If anyone in Massachusetts needs a company that respects trans rights I'll try my best to get yous applications when I start my new position.
[–]rasao22
I wasn't fired from my job, but I honestly believe that I couldn't advance at a ten-year seniority job because I was trans, so I left.
The long and short of it was that I transitioned in 2020, after seven years on the job. Got sparkling job reviews every year following this. In 2023, management and HR finally posted an advancement opportunity in my area. I'd worked roughly at the entry level up until that point, though I am a specialist. Admittedly I kind of figured that they'd give the job to one of my coworkers because he was being treated as the golden child, but I still put in my candidacy because I had more seniority, more industry experience, federal licensing, and I also knew all of the tasks on team whereas their golden boy had none of those nor did he know my job or even other jobs on the team. But, no dice.
In essence they promoted an vastly unqualified cis man over me.
So after golden boy was promoted I engaged my management, my HR, and also my DEI office in trying to figure out where I go from that point, having been in the same position for those ten years and not seeing any advancement on the horizon. They all stonewalled me for months so I started inquiring on the open market. I got an offer that netted me title advancement plus 1/6 more salary than at my previous job within about two months of looking (and while recovering from body contouring / lipoplasty surgery).
The thing that strikes me the hardest is the fact that my direct-report supervisor was really awesome with me for about the first two years. She changed about six months before that advancement opportunity came around. And despite the fact that I am located in a blue state, said supervisor was a church-going citizen of small-town Arkansas. Not saying everyone there is bad, but I was not surprised that I started getting first a cold shoulder and then afterward getting frozen out. She effectively turned on a dime. Dunno if it was personal, or church-influenced, or South-influenced, or a combination of any of the three. The best way to express this was the fact that I was pending my job offer at my new job when I went back to my supervisor to ask one last time whether or not I had a future, and I mentioned that I started looking on the open market as a negotiating tactic... and the instant answer that came back was "in that case, give us four weeks' notice of resignation instead of two." Whoosh. So be it, they got those four weeks. (As if I was going to get any level of goodwill out of my generosity...)
So, well... I certainly didn't land on my butt and I know that there are other trans folks who got a far rawer deal out of their employers after their transition. However,
I do honestly think that at least a good 50 - 75% of the reason that I ended up getting squeezed out of a nice gig plus a ton of seniority was that my management didn't want a trans person around anymore and felt uncomfortable giving me an advancement opportunity.
It's just as well, that company had really good health benefits for trans folks... and I soaked them for a good couple hundred thousand dollars through six surgeries over the course of the two years leading to my departure. Jerks. At least there were a couple halfway decent HR folks mixed in with the crappy management.
[–]blue_transformer5280
Back before being trans was an openly ok thing. I worked in a panel shop building panels with a ton of dudes.
The owners daughter found my fb (MySpace maybe) under a diff name and called all the guys in her office like 10 at a time and showed them my entire profile. I watched every single one of them walk in and stare at the computer while she talked. Die laughing then look out at the shop at me and you could tell she said don’t look at him. This happened with like 6 groups of guys.
Over and over They all come out laughing at me and laughed at me all day long. One guy told me she what she was showing them. I left and never went back left all of my tools. Unbelievably painful. I cried for weeks.
[–]Available_Row_5435
I was at Accel for 4 years. 3 and a half years before transitioning. Maybe one write up in all that time.
In my last 6 months that I was transitioning I was written up more than 6 times. I finally asked if I could take a short leave and they said no you need to resign. So, I was not fired but told to resign. They could not handle me becoming a woman.
[–]Saved-Data-Error
Not fired but definitely felt like the reason why my manager was bullying me at the workplace. Then
when I gave her my notice she had such a shit eating grin she was so happy she won
[–]echrisindy
I was outed as trans at a job in 1997. There was a group of LGB folks who were quietly out, and I confided in a couple of them. Suddenly, I was no longer invited to lunches with the inner circle (it was a small company) and was asked to "hold down the fort" while they all went out. I kept getting "in trouble" for things that I had been told to do. Finally, I was written up for one such thing.
When I sent my concerns, stating openly that I was trans, and that I didn't want to lose my job over it, I was called into the boss' office, with the HR person present, and was told they couldn't trust me as sysadmin (which was my job) and told me to take two weeks off and "think about where I fit in" in the organization.
When I returned to my office, my computer was gone. It was pretty clear that I was being let go, so I looked for work, interviewed, and got a better paying job at another company in 9 days.
I was MUCH more careful about keeping my personal life separate at that job. I finally came out publicly in 2014, in part because my employer had specific protections for gender identity. I transitioned in 2015 and showed up to work as myself in 2016, and it's gone great ever since.
[–]astralmodem
Yep, just recently.
Everyone I worked closely with was very supportive to my face, but I always had the sneaking feeling that they were just being nice. This was more or less confirmed over time as I started getting in trouble for things that others around me wouldn't. A whole HR file was built against me out of completely fabricated stories. Every time I got written up I never got a solid reason or was given the opportunity to explain my side or give comments, just strong armed into signing papers. HR also refused to accommodate me,
there were gendered locker rooms and I expressed that I was uncomfortable using the men's, and was told I could just change in the (thankfully not gendered) bathrooms. I got a gift bag for Father's Day, despite HR knowing that I'm a trans woman. I would fill in at other departments occasionally and the managers wouldn't even look me in the eyes.
This all came to a head when we got a brand new employee in the lab, first since I'd started that didn't just transfer from another department. He was misgendering me at every turn, and I spent a week gently correcting him every time. I thought my coworkers would help him adjust, but the most I got was a "she's trans" accompanied with an eye roll. I took a day off (scheduled, with PTO) to move as I was losing my housing, which coincided with the weekend.
I came back after three days off just to be pulled into HR, told that I'm too 'unstable' to work there, and was escorted off the property.
I tried applying for benefits as I ended up being out of work for the entire month of August.
The state told me I needed some sort of statement from my old workplace that I no longer work there, so I contacted HR. They sent me a statement that said, "He no longer works here"... a final slap in the face.
I must've had 40 interviews after that ordeal, all decent paying jobs away from the public eye, all well within my work experience & skills. I'd do so well in first interviews, get moved along to a second/final wherein I'd disclose that I'm trans and ask a couple small questions about inclusivity and culture. Rejection letter, every time. I currently work at a gas station where I'm not out and fear for my safety, and took a pay cut of $4/hr to boot, just so that I can pay my rent.
[–]Batmobile123
After 52yrs, fired many times. Denied jobs many times. Assaulted, raped, poisoned, electrocuted, I'm pretty sure my BINGO card is blacked out.
[–][deleted]
Oh yes.
Though it was more along the lines of “What, you want us to use the correct pronouns? Do you really wanna work here?” Then found myself “under review.” That or they found some pretext to fire me, or make my work life miserable & untenable in some way. I’ve lost some otherwise good jobs this way (in Arizona, go figure).
Most discrimination and transphobia is covert. I bet it’s pretty rare that people actually say “you’re fired, you trans pos.”
[–]LiYBeL
Yep, twice. Sued both times. First one got away with it because the company was too small to be required to follow EEOC rules and the second one is still pending. Probably will have some more updates in mid 2025
[–]rainofterra
I’ve never been fired, I’ve only mutually agreed to end my time at the company.
And I got blackballed by Epic Games once. The recruiter called me crying because it was at the final step and she’d never had anyone denied at that stage before and I’ll always remember her telling me through tears “Happy transgender day of visibility” lmao, I had to try so hard not to laugh at how absurd it was.
[–]jessicats9
Yes,
I was “let go” from 2 long-time jobs when I transitioned.. direct discrimination.
[–]typewrytten
Yes.
From Starbucks of all places lmfao
My boss was an ass. She had a trans sister who came out in the 80s and it tore her family apart. She never got over it and took it out on me.
I put in a request for 3 weeks of medical leave for top surgery about four months in advance. Prior she had argued that it had to be a year in advance and I had to get the employee handbook and another store manager to prove to her that it didn’t.
She fired me three days after I put in the request. Made me drive to work in a snowstorm, then fired me to second I walked through the door. She had secretly scheduled another shift supervisor to sit in the food court of the mall to cover my shift.
I think her listed official reasons were, like, a write up I had gotten for collecting a trash bag in the cafe while I was off the clock, a mysterious customer complaint that never actually happened, and “not being a team player” or some such nonsense.
I had complained about her attitude towards me to HR before this and nothing happened. I contacted them again after this and they didn’t get back to me for SIX MONTHS and then nothing happened.
This manager also fired my now-wife after we started dating (after I no longer worked there) for “wearing the wrong earrings.” The earrings in question were ones she had worn multiple times in the three years she worked there but suddenly they became an issue.
This was 2019. I was young and dumb and hotheaded and should have done more about it than just tell her to fuck off. We didn’t have federal protections yet. We also didn’t have protections in my state, which is at-will anyway.
Like two years later she got fired for using the store’s credit card to embezzle almost $100k soooooooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I worked under three different managers at Starbucks and they were all horribly transphobic to me, tbf.
[–][deleted]
So uh, TW. Massive TW.
Yes. My first job, and in fast food. Was hired at 18, shortly before I came out. A few months later I came out at 19 (in early 2019), everything was kumbaya. I also wanted to pursue being a manager because I dropped out of college at the time due to health reasons and wanted to work full-time.
My GM approved of my manager request and Instarted being trained. Now PTSD fucks with a lot of events, so I’ll try by best to put it in order.
For 10 months I was trained, and we desperately needed managers. Thus my GM would hire an external manager who would train alongside me. Each time, they got certified and I didn’t. This happened 5 times, so basically over those 10 months my GM hired 5 cis people, trained and certified them, but did not certify me despite me being trained alongside those new hires. Also its worth mentioning that each of the 5 managers quit in less than 3 months of being hired.
So I called HR and made a stink about it. I had the knowledge, and was being passed on for no reason, other than I was trans. I had manager friends who help trained me and backed me up.
That call fucked me over, because my GM started retaliating against me. Everything wrong I did was on full blast, but nobody else got called out like I did. Once I was in the back getting ready for my shift, and he yelled at me for not having a hair net in when I wasn’t clocked in and literally walked in the door (I was just starting to grow my hair out). I put one in and went to clock in at the POS stations, and both coworkers who were cis women there had their hair down with no hair nets.
Finally on the 11th month, I said I wanted to take the test. My GM laughed in my face but allowed me to. Finally I sat down to take the first food safety certification test which was a 2 hour test on the only computer in the store (in the manager’s office). At the 1 hour mark, my GM came into the office and said I have to finish my test, as he needed the computer (he was expecting me to fail anyways). Over the next 30 minutes he is hovering over my shoulder, and I finally submit my test early before time was up. I got a 69 on it, and the failure cutoff was 68. I saw my GM’s jaw dropped on the reflection on the computer monitor.
He knew that because I passed the food safety test, there was no reason to deny me full manager certification. Once that happened, my friend (cis girl) and coworker, who I trained said she wanted to be a manager. The GM fast tracked her in 3 weeks. We ended up getting our full manager certification at the same time.
After that happened my life became actual hell. I was called out for other people’s problems even if I was not running the shift. I actually never ran a shift because he never trusted me. My hours were cut, and I was suppose to be full time but got dropped to half. I had Fridays off because of DR apts, since I was starting HRT and had to do monthly checkups (among other appointments). That was used as leverage for my hours being cut. Finally I said I have to be at full time (40 hours) and not part time (less than 20). I was promised more hours.
After 3 weeks, my hours were cut again, and I had another talk. I was promised full time. 2 weeks later, I walk into my shift on Tuesday, saw the new schedule was posted early (which usually gets posted on Thursdays), and saw that my hours were cut down to 12.5 hours, and that one base-level employee was at 80 hours, which is just under 12 hours a day, 7 days in a row.
I had a massive mental breakdown, walked out, tried to kill myself while driving, but managed to drive to a police station before I hurt myself or someone else. I was put on a 72 hour hold, which lasted 2 weeks. Eventually I was released, and I never went back.
Since that happened, I worked 2.5 years there. Summer 2018 to winter 2020. I was a “manager in training” for 11 months, and only a manager for 3. Once I was released from the hospital I made a case with the EEOC. After a year of investigation, and all the evidence I supplied (like my hours being cut repeatedly, the passive aggressive texts from my GM) the investigation concluded and they didn’t find any mistreatment.
HR claimed I never talked with then, and my witness that watched me cal and talk with them did not do the interview. My manager friends did not interview either. The one friend I got certified with stabbed me in the back, and quit, and wanted nothing to do with me since the GM favored her certification over mine.
I could have taken them to court, but my life fe apart. I got a new job, but developed severe PTSD to the point that I now have PTSD induced seizures, about once a day. Early on, they were about 3 a day lasting for hours, but Ive managed them to what they are now.
I have worked 4 jobs since, and have been fired from 3 of them all because of my seizures now. The 4th job was contract work and they ran out of funding for my position.
Discrimination still happens here in the US. If the company you work for write you off as a bad employee, and fires you, there is nothing you can do. There’s no point in fighting it. You are just a number, an expendable number.
Now my life isn’t all doom and gloom. I went back to community college last year and I’m doing pretty well. I just got approved for a scholarship and I’m trying my ass off to raise my GPA so that I get to keep it. I did get fired from my last job 2 weeks before this semester started. Reason being: “I no called no showed” when I have seizures that prevent me from calling ahead of time to say I will be late/missing my shift.
I knew it was coming, as my boss put me on a leave of absence over the summer, and was cold and removed whenever I came into visit. She hired 3 people to replace me before I was officially fired.
I also live in CO where it’s really progressive here with trans protections. But Im tired of fighting. I just want to make the most of my life and try and get back on me feet.
In the mean time I’m doing sex work because as a trans woman I’m a commodity. But I have hopes to leave the industry soon if I can get another job, or wait until I graduate in 2 years.
I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and how I’ve grown. Looking back it was super hard, being discriminated against so many times. But I was able to get through it because I am proud to be trans, and existentially happy now that I’m my authentic self.
I’m still working on my PTSD and seizures, but
I hope that one day I can live a normal life, meet a man:partner, adopt 2 kids, and live a peaceful suburban life where we can fuck like bunnies and raise beautiful kids.
[–]Sensitive_Tip_9871
when i was pre-T i did a youth employment program.
my "boss" constantly called me she just because she had to see my deadname in order for me to get paid, otherwise she wouldn't have known, and she knew me as my new name so it sas really shitty. the other people attending were pretty ignorant too, i should have just quit in hindsight
[–]Gwenisher
I work in a very specialized field and
while I was never fired for being trans I don’t get hired despite being supremely qualified and talented at what I do. It makes me want to dissapear and do something else with my life
[–]The_Dawn_Strider
I’ve been fired a total of once- my very first job, long before I ever came out. My boss simply hated my guts.
What’s odd is literally every woman I’ve had for a boss has generally disliked me. I don’t know if something deep down told them I wasn’t exactly a man, but it just never worked.
I’m only just starting my transition. I’m lucky enough in this case that I wound up working for my father as a cook in his kitchen-
And he has been my number 1 supporter
[–]Lilith_Christine
I've been forced out of jobs.
One job told me there wasn't a place for me, to go find another job. Guess that was a type of firing.
[–][deleted]
No, but I suspect it's the reason I've been turned down for a couple jobs. I work in the mental health field and applied for some positions working directly with young queer men. They were looking for people with lived experience, so I disclosed mine in the most sanitized way I could, and it was an immediate no thank you even though my application was perfect. I'm not the "desirable" or "palatable" kind of trans person jobs that "value diversity" usually want (I'm visibly queer but look more like a man than a woman) and people will openly say that I'm not enough for them.
This goes double for jobs working with kids.
But hey, maybe I'm just overthinking it.
[–]rachelexmachina
Yes, it was my first real job out of college. I moved to a new city for the job. Wasn’t really out at the time but had begun to explore. Once that was noticed I was quickly let go. Didn’t know anyone and had no support system. That scared me back into the closet for a long long time…
More recently I was interviewing at an organization I thought of as being really progressive. I was early in my transition and visibly trans so I was hesitant to interview but I thought it would be ok given the organization. Talked to the managers and lead engineers and they were all pretty excited about my experience.
Then I went in for an in person interview. As soon as they saw me the entire vibe changed. I knew the interview was over before it started.
[–]Supportive_Potato
Yes. I worked for over 8 years at a non profit organization in the US and was a high performer. I loved my job and was well liked by most people there. I was promoted after years 1, 2, and 4 and reached pretty much as high as I could get in the organizational hierarchy. This org was a religious non profit, but the backing religion played almost no role in our day to day operations and the employees were incredibly diverse in their religious backgrounds.
I came out as trans about six months before being fired and I initially received a lot of support from the rank and file and even from the local leadership. It was terrifying and not everyone was accepting, but the vast majority were. About one month after I came out, leadership sat me down and said that corporate leadership had found out about my transition and they placed hard limitations on me using my new name and pronouns in the workplace.
I was not allowed to ever advertise my pronouns and I was never allowed to correct anyone if they deadnamed or misgendered me. Their logic? Religious freedom. Fortunately, I had already been telling people my new name and pronouns for a month and they didn't say that my allies couldn't correct people for me which is what happened for the couple of months following the meeting. It was a struggle for some people to make the change, but most made an honest effort and were enthusiastic and excited for me.
I begrudgingly followed their demands.
Two months after that sit down meeting, leadership called another meeting and wanted me to sign a document that put in print the conditions they laid out for me in the previous meeting. No advertising pronouns, no correcting demanding or misgendering. They added another few gems - their legal counsel said they could fire me whenever they wanted because of religious freedom and they were graciously choosing not to do that based on my 8+ years of service there, but if I ever gave them a court order of a name/gender marker change, they would reconsider.
I consulted an attorney at this point and refused to sign the document. A few weeks later I was terminated. In my final meeting with leadership, they told me to my face that I had been a phenomenal employee and they were sorry, but they were letting me go that day. For legal reasons, I can't comment any further on my interactions with the former employer after this point.
Why did I stay as long as I did? First, I loved my job. Second, I needed a job. My partner was going through some serious health issues at the time and we needed the stability and insurance.
Third,
I knew the religious higher ups were transphobic, but I had built up so much good will in my time there that I figured if anyone could move the needle on improving conditions for queer people there, it could be me. As a non profit, we served clients from all walks of life which means that queer people were among them. I thought it was a glaring danger to our programs and our clients that we couldn't be supportive or affirming to any of our queer clients or employees. Maybe I could use my position to create some space for others who didn't have as much privilege.
Well,
I was wrong and my goodwill barely did anything to protect myself let alone anyone else. I don't regret trying to do what I sincerely felt was the right thing, but I underestimated the toll it would take on me personally. I think my firing created some shockwaves among my former coworkers and friends, but I was so depressed after being let go that I found it difficult to keep in touch with anyone there.
[–]NookFarm
Yes. When I was hired, the employer knew that I was transgender. But I was still expressing as a boy. I made the visual transition about a year after starting. Things went downhill after that.
The real irony is that I was Director of Human Resources.