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March 17, 2010

Investigation Finds NYC Stores Discriminating Against Transgender Job Applicants

By  OutQ News Staff / OutQ News


 

LGBT rights supporters gathered in front of a J Crew clothing store in New York on Sunday – to protest what they said are the company’s unfair and discriminatory hiring practices – and to call attention to apparently widespread violations of New York City laws protecting transgender workers and applicants.


The protest was based on the findings of an investigation conducted by the group “Make the Road New York.” The group hired two actors – and paired each of them with a transgender counterpart of the same age and adopted gender. They gave each of them comparable fake resumes – with the transgender person getting slightly more experience … and sent them out into Manhattan to try to get a variety of retail jobs. Each member of each pair entered each establishment within 20 minutes of each other – so they were dealing with the same managers – but they got vastly different responses. The group says nowhere was that more evident than at J. Crew.


The clothing store did not offer jobs to either transgender applicant, including Julian Brolaski. He said he was treated brusquely while at the store – and said that when he followed up — twice — he was promised callbacks that never came. The store DID offer jobs to BOTH of the non-trans applicants.


Overall, all four applicants applied for 66 jobs all over town. Non-transgender applicants were offered 14. Transgender applicants – with virtually identical ages, experiences and qualifications – were offered two.


Protesters this weekend called on J. Crew to adopt a non-discrimination policy and include it in all job listings and applications. A spokesman for the company did not return OutQ’s call for comment.


More on: Expanding Civil Rights 

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Victory for Immigrant Families: Preventing Unjust Deportations in NYC

On March 18, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg signed new legislation to stop federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using NYC’s criminal justice system to deport thousands of New Yorkers.

Building on legislation we helped to win just over a year ago, Local Laws 21 and 22 prohibit not only the Department of Correction but now also the NYPD from spending millions of city taxpayer dollars to hold individuals on behalf of ICE agents for detention and deportation. Each year, thousands of New York families will stay together who would otherwise have been torn apart by overly aggressive, indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

At a moment when the country is debating immigration reform, with these laws, New York City sends a clear message to Washington that tearing apart thousands of immigrant families is bad policy.

With your support, we look forward to winning national reform that keeps families together. We thank our partners at the Center for Popular Democracy, the Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic and the bills’ sponsors, NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Council Member Mark-Viverito, for their courageous leadership.


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