The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week ruled that an army facility’s decision to force a transgender civilian employee to use a unisex bathroom, and not a female one, represented sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The five-member board also found that her supervisor’s use of male pronouns when addressing Tamara Lusardi, the employee, “compounded that discrimination and sent the message that Ms. Lusardi was unworthy of basic respect and dignity because she is a transgender individual.”

Ms. Lusardi works at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. She will receive unspecified damages as a result of the ruling.


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