NY State Supreme Court Rules Trans Discrimination Case Can Proceed

TransGriot Note: Press release with good news about a trans discrimination case in New York City. 


NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT RULES THAT TRANSGENDER DISCRIMINATION SUIT AGAINST NYC TRANSIT AUTHORITY CAN MOVE FORWARD  

Landmark Decision Rejects Constitutional Challenges to New York City Human Rights Law Prohibiting Transgender Discrimination



January 21, 2011

In a landmark decision just obtained by Housing Works, Justice Kenneth P. Sherman of the New York State Supreme Court, Kings County, has upheld the New York City Human Rights Law’s provisions prohibiting transgender discrimination against the challenge of the New York City Transit Authority (“TA”).  Among other things, the TA argued that the anti-discrimination provisions violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitutions; are constitutionally vague; and should not apply to non-supervisory TA employees.

In the first ruling of its kind, Judge Sherman ruled that “the prohibition of bigoted behavior in the public accommodation context contained in the [Human Rights Law] does not violate the constitutional guarantee of free speech.”  Judge Sherman explained that “the State of New York and its subdivisions, such as the City, have a compelling interest in combating invidious discrimination,” and found the Human Rights Law “sustainable as a regulation of a transit system, which is not a ‘First Amendment forum.’”  The Human Rights law is “narrowly tailored,” Judge Sherman noted, and applies “only to agents of public accommodation companies who engage in discriminatory conduct that suggest victims of bias are unwelcome.”  Judge Sherman ruled, finally, that “[t]here is no authority” for limiting the scope of the Human Rights Law “only to supervisors or managers.”

Plaintiff Tracy Bumpus, represented by Housing Works, filed suit against the Transit Authority and one of its employees in 2006, alleging that Transit employees subjected her to a series of transgender-phobic ("transphobic") incidents, beginning with a vicious and sustained transphobic tirade on a subway platform after she requested assistance with her MetroCard.  This is the latest in a string of victories in the case of Bumpus v. New York City Transit Authority.

Armen H. Merjian, Senior Attorney at Housing Works, commented:  “Sadly, we are still in the nascent stages of establishing the basic civil rights of transgender citizens in New York.  This was just the latest attempt by the Transit Authority to greatly circumscribe or even eliminate the transgender discrimination provisions of the New York City Human Rights Law, enacted in 2003.  We are delighted that the Court has rejected these unfounded challenges and reaffirmed the continuing vitality of this critical law, particularly on behalf of a community long excluded from the antidiscrimination protections afforded other groups.”