Is there anything I can do about being discriminated against at work for being a transgender male and also having disabilities?

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Is there anything I can do about being discriminated against at work for being a transgender male and also having disabilities?

I’ve recently been accused of sexual harrassment at work by a female co-worker and I’ve been basically called a liar and although I provided a detailed statement proving her claim was false and untrue. Listing many interactions or conversations between her and I that if we were not friends to some extent I wouldn’t have known and done and such. I even offered to let HR get in contact with people outside of work that could verify my statements but they didn’t care and I am sure the co-worker has told others at work that I was harassing her because I’m treated differently now by some that before this I had good working relationships with. I’m a respectful person and never told people at work many of the things that really happened outside of it, I didn’t feel it was my place to at the time so that was my bad. I should’ve and then my co workers would’ve known the truth. HR called me in and pretty much verbally attacked me with this accusation, not saying whom had made it or giving any details or proof. I was called in again few days later and told who had accused me and I was blindsided because it was nothing like that. New Link Destination
day I got a 3rd talking to by HR and I got accused of

lying in my statement because the co-worker had told them I had lied in it. Meaning HR read my statement to her but said nothing of hers to me. My work crew is small and it’s 3rd shift so we do sometimes goof around or joke to be honest but there’s 100s of cameras where I work and I told HR to check them, there was no negative body language or facial expressions from her that would indicate I was doing as she claimed, but don’t believe they even looked. I was told by HR the first meeting that I wasn’t allowed to speak anything about this to anyone at work, but when I voiced to them that I truly thought she was telling people at work this lie, I was ignored by HR. So I couldn’t defend myself or prove to others at work that I didn’t do it. So now I feel

like co-workers are giving HR statements about things said that were out of context and they’re seeing me as a creep, when I’m not. I think because of me being a transmale who recently began transitioning, HR is not believing me. I’m being wrongly treated while the person really in the wrong is getting special treatment because of being a biological female and because of something that happened in her past that she made public well before we became friends. Also, because of having some mental health and learning disabilities where I sometimes don’t understand things or how to explain them properly when speaking, and I need to learn some stuff in a different way. I also don’t like being touched or people being close to me for the most part and when I do say something that’s completely innocent or word something wrongly and it can be taken in a sexual or dirty way I don’t usually understand how so until I either get told or think about it for a bit, so I wouldn’t or couldn’t do what I’ve been accused of and I could’ve proved that had my work given me the chance. I am very naive to be honest, so with some of the incidents that happened with the co-worker outside of work I didn’t understand if it was normal or not or how to tell someone. However, I got accused of lying about more than one incident when the woman told HR it didn’t happen, I had no reason to lie. It was an uncomfortable incident for me and I stated that when I put it in my statement. I am a kind hearted guy and I’m honest and I really have no idea why she accused me of such a horrible thing but I feel like my employer doesn’t care about the truth. I’ve had many private number calls to my cellphone since this accusation came

and never leave messages. I didn’t get these before. Also, the day after I called my local HR to tell them how bad work had gotten for me and that I believed she was telling co-workers there’s a guy on bike riding up and down my street, yelling death threats from what sounds like right outside my house. I called the police and they dismissed it as a drunk troublemaker and HR did as well when I said that I didn’t feel safe and in all the years I’ve lived where I do that has never happened before. I don’t know what to do or if I can do anything, I just feel like how I’ve been treated isn’t legal at all. I told HR I could get a long list of people who’ve known me for years who can confirm my true good character and that I wouldn’t do such a horrible thing as to harrass anyone but they ignored me. Also, ignored my offer to let medical people RNs speak to them to verify things happened as they did and to prove I’m actually the victim and because of how of being transgender I think my work isn’t gonna help me and I was told in the exact words,

Asked on July 19, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Maine

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 4 years ago | Contributor

Being transgender is not protected under either federal or state anti-discrimination law, especially under the current Administration. (The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission might have, under past administrations, tried to fold discrimination against someone who is transgender under sex-based discrimination, but the EEOC under this Administration will not.) However, it is plainly illegal to discriminate against or harass employees due to their disabilities. You could bring any disability related claims to the federal EEOC or your state's equal/civil rights agency.


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