Employee Sues Macy's for Discrimination at the Department-Store Chain
A former employee of the Macy’s department store at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, Calif., has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing the Cincinnati-based department-store chain of wrongful termination and a slew of gender-related discrimination charges.
The plaintiff, Jason “Jazz” Araquel, who worked in the store’s cosmetics department for three years and is a pre-operative male-to-female transgender person, was terminated by the department store in September 2009 after years of alleged gender-identity discrimination, gender-identity harassment, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, retaliation for opposing discrimination and harassment in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy, said the lawsuit, which was filed on May 20.
According to court documents, Araquel filed a complaint against Macy’s on April 16 with the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which protects employees from discrimination based on gender.
Araquel’s suit asks for unspecified general and punitive damages; compensation for emotional distress, pain, suffering and loss of dignity; and legal and attorney fees.
A Macy’s spokesperson declined to comment, saying the retailer does not discuss matters of litigation.—Erin Barajas
