$2.6 million reasons why it’s illegal to fire a gay employee

Yesterday, a federal jury in Columbus returned a $2.6 million verdict in favor of Stacey Yerkes, a former Ohio State Highway Patrol employee who claimed that she was constructively discharged (forced to quit based on intolerable and unreasonable working conditions) because of her sexual orientation.

Yerkes, who identifies as a gay female, presented evidence that beginning in 2017, three superior officers and a co-worker targeted and criticized her for minor infractions for which other officers got a pass. These issues included leaving her vehicle on and unattended and failing to wear her Patrol-issued hat during a traffic stop. Yerkes also alleges that—in contrast to similarly situated men in her position—she was required to perform "demeaning" tasks that did not fall within her job description. Yerkes also presented evidence that the defendants made misogynistic and homophobic comments specifically about her, including leaving inappropriate pictures of women in her locker, asking her about her sex life, and calling her names such as "butch" (and much, much worse).

Based on the all of the foregoing, she both filed an internal complaint and a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.

The event that ultimately caused Yerkes's resignation related to a tattoo on her forearm that she covered with an approved medical sleeve. The tattoo would have been a violation of policy, the sleeve arguably not. When Yerkes refused to remove the sleeve and show the tattoo to her captain, she was investigated for insubordination. As a result, she was offered the choice of either a last chance agreement or a termination with a "not in good standing" designation. She declined both options, retired, and sued for sex and sexual orientation discrimination.

Based on the foregoing, the jury returned a verdict of $2,617,851.

Some will tell you that it's okay to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals, that the law should not protect them, and that the Supreme Court went too far in Bostock when it held that Title VII's definition of "sex" implicitly includes LBGTQ+ employees. Yesterday, a jury of our peers said, "No! This is not acceptable! This is not okay! Gay employees are people, too!" 

$2.6 million sends a strong message that we will not tolerate LGBTQ+ discrimination in our workplaces, and gives me hope that no matter the culture wars attempting to divide our country, we can still recognize and separate right from wrong.