Gay bakery manager fired after hiring transgender employee, Texas lawsuit says
.jpg "Two former employees of the Dessert Gallery in Houston, Texas, who are gay and lesbian, accuse the bakery of employment discrimination, according to lawsuits.")
A Texas bakery is accused of firing a manager after he hired an employee who is transgender, according to a lawsuit.
It’s the second lawsuit accusing the business of employment discrimination since February.
Gilbert Johnson, who is gay, was fired from Dessert Gallery in Houston last August, according to the lawsuit filed Feb. 24 in a Texas federal court. The lawsuit says Johnson’s firing culminated a tenure in which he felt an “underlying bias toward LGBTQ staff.”
Dessert Gallery denied the allegations in a statement to OutSmart, a LGBTQ magazine in Houston.
“Dessert Gallery has always been committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workforce and our community. We have a long history of celebrating Pride and partnering with, as well as supporting, Houston’s LGBTQIA+ community,” the bakery told OutSmart. “We take seriously any allegations like those outlined in these complaints but stand firm that these allegations are simply not true. We believe the proper place to disclose the facts of this case is in the courtroom and look forward to that opportunity.”
According to the lawsuit, Johnson was “subjected to offensive commentary about the transgender woman he hired, and he was bombarded with questions about her bathroom access, which he defended.”
Johnson also was pressured to write up the transgender woman and a lesbian employee, the lawsuit says.
When he was fired, the business accused Johnson of failing to complete tasks, which he believes was inaccurate, the lawsuit says.
On Feb. 1, Dessert Gallery was sued by Katherine Phillips, a Black lesbian woman.
According to Phillips’ lawsuit, she was passed over for promotions and coworkers and managers made “accusatory comments about her attraction to customers entering the store.”
“Comments such as ‘Well, I know you like big girls.’ Or ‘I see you staring,’ when Ms. Phillips was simply doing her job by providing service to customers who enter the store,” the lawsuit says.
The business told Phillips she was fired for telling other employees they were going to be written up, which she says was inaccurate, according to the lawsuit.
Both lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Gay bakery manager fired after hiring transgender employee, Texas lawsuit says."