Mark & Galusha, Employment Law Attorneys - Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey

A lawsuit was recently filed in state court in Camden, New Jersey, by an individual claiming wrongful termination based on gender discrimination. El'Jai Devoureau was born female, but underwent medical treatments and surgery to become a male and legally changed his gender in 2006. He was hired in June 2010 by Urban Treatments Associates, a drug treatment center in Camden, as a urine monitor - making sure that drug addicted individuals did not substitute someone else's urine for their own when being drug tested. On his second day on the job, his boss questioned him about his gender, saying that she heard he was transgender. Mr. Devoureau said he was a male, and his boss asked him if he had ever had any surgeries to become that way. When Mr. Devoureau responded that that was private information, he was fired. Urban Treatment maintains that only males can hold the position of urine monitor and that Mr. Devoureau is not a male.

Mr. Devoureau’s lawsuit may be the first of its kind, claiming wrongful termination and raising the issue of a transgender person’s sex.  New Jersey law bans job discrimination on the basis of various criteria, including “gender identity or expression.”  However, there has been no case law addressing this discriminatory criteria since this criteria was added to the statute in 2006.

Mark & Galusha, Lawyers handling employment matters in Rockwood and Rosedale, Atlantic County, New Jersey.

If you would like more information about this case, please contact Mark & Galusha, your employment law attorneys in Rockwood and Rosedale, New Jersey.  For a free consultation, contact us at 908-626-1001 or 973-440-2311, or tell us your story by clicking the "contact us" page.