There is an interesting new filing out of Washington state where a nonbinary flight attendant, Justin Wetherell, is suing Alaska Airlines. Wetherell alleges the airline’s uniform and presentation requirements discriminate against nonbinary and gender-fluid employees.
Wetherell, who uses the pronouns they, them, and their, is proceeding under the Washington Law Against Discrimination, which prohibits discrimination against employees based on their sexual orientation, including “gender expression or identity.” The complaint states:
“Justin’s gender expression is fluid, meaning that Justin’s external manifestations of gender are not exclusively masculine or feminine. Consistent with their gender identity and gender expression, Justin dresses and grooms in a manner that is not associated with traditional, rigid male or female dress or grooming standards. For example, Justin maintains facial hair, has long hair, wears makeup, and dresses in a manner not typical of the gender binary.”
The airline’s uniform conditions are similar to other companies and detail “masculine” or “feminine” standards including presentation of hair, jewelry, and makeup.
Wetherell requested accommodations, such as being able to wear heels that mix “male” and “female” uniforms. That request was denied by the Alaska Airlines. The airline recently allowed more flexibility including greater leeway on hair styles, tattoos, and piercings.
Wetherell first filed a complaint with the Washington Human Rights Commission in 2020. According to the ACLU (which is representing Wetherell), the commission “uncovered evidence to support Justin’s claims” and that there was “adverse employment action of being required to dress and groom in a manner that is not consistent with [Justin’s] gender identity and gender expression.’”
The Virgin Atlantic just issued new gender neutral uniform policies.
You can read the complaint here.
The owners of the company should decide how they wish to position/market their company. Flight attendants are the employees that represent the company to their customers. The company’s owners should therefore decide how they wish to present the company to their customers. A stockholders’ referendum would be one way to determine how to handle the controversy.
A right winger like you might be surprised to learn that most Americans really don’t care how someone expresses their gender as much as you do, so long as they are congenial and are competent in their job duties. You are assuming that someone who wears a beard, heels and long hair is making a poor appearance for a company, but times have changed.
Most Americans don’t care if you are strait or gay or whatever. They just don’t want it rammed down their face!
The company must also make a decision on its level of exposure to reputational damage by continuing to have this person on its payroll. I think employers should have a say in how their company is represented before the public and I just don’t believe that attempting to use the law to force such a change on the public is right.
If I was the company I would move the case to federal court. I don’t think the Civil Rights Act’s intent as written by Congress was to include these types of gender expression while on the job. What anyone does on their time off work is strictly personal business. If “they” want to be gender non-conforming and come in to the office to pick up a paycheck or for some other purpose unrelated to being a flight attendant, they should be allowed to dress any way they please. Former inmates with heavily tattooed faces also are not seen in positions where they serve in public roles representing the company. Should they sue, too? What about Disney employees who have strict hair and grooming standards? I don’t think you’ll see too many Disney employees agitating to be gender nonconforming in public positions.
I believe the company should offer the employee a severance package that provides for paying off his entire contract + 50% of the annual agreement as a basis for settlement, and call it a day.
jajuan62: the case is based on a Washington civil rights state statute, not federal law, so it probably can’t be moved to federal court. Anyway, most Americans don’t judge others based on appearance, so long as they are doing a good job and are friendly and congenial, like most flight attendants are. I also would personally think more highly of a company that allows its employees freedom of gender expression. The other day, my family and I went to a Mexican restaurant. The booth across from us had a newborn baby girl in a portable bed–she was our waitress’s daughter, and she told us her employer allowed her to keep her baby with her at work (presumably so she could breast-feed). I think that was a wonderful thing for them to do, just like I would think it would be wonderful to see a flight attendant free to wear a beard, heels and long hair if they are nice and do a good job. Why should I care how they dress or wear their hair?
” her employer allowed her to keep her baby with her at work (presumably so she could breast-feed). I think that was a wonderful thing for them to do, just like I would think it would be wonderful to see a flight attendant free to wear a beard,”
Learn the difference between an owner of a private company and the CEO of a public company.
This was a chain Mexican restaurant, so it probably is a public company. Anyway, seeing this gesture of kindness and support extended to a new mother was refreshing–she got to be with her new baby and still keep her job. Still, not one of you right-wingers has yet to explain to me how or why a flight attendant wearing a beard, long hair and high heels has done something bad or creates a negative image for their employer, unless there’s something inherently offensive about these things. Long – gone are the days when a flight attendant would be fired for getting married, gaining weight or not being beautiful, or even the requirement of being female. Flight attendants are not there to do anything other than instruct on safety, serve and assist passengers and the flight crew and direct operations if there is an emergency. The basic problem you right wingers have is being offended if someone with a beard wears heels and long hair–get over it. People don’t have to dress or wear their hair to please you in order to do their job competently. Why do you have a problem with someone wearing a beard, heels and long hair?
“This was a chain Mexican restaurant, so it probably is a public company.”
So what? If the decision was made to permit or not permit what was done, and that decision wasn’t rash, self-serving, or knowingly destructive to the company, whatever policy they think best for the company is the right policy.
Learn a bit about business and economics
There are reasons for dress codes. That you are a barbarian doesn’t mean the rest of the world has to be.
Dear cis-breeder Prof Turley,
I’ve already read the news today. About a lucky non-binary Biden Adm. nuclear physicist who made the grade with a penchant for designer luggage. It’s weapons of war, symptoms of madness 24/7. .. enough already.
I was hoping for something, uh, a bit more down-to-earth here @ Res ipsa loquitur. e.g. Im working on some easy guidelines to help Elon ‘How to Spot Russian Disinformation’ on Twitter (when you see Putin driving a tank down Pennsylvania Ave. you can start to worry.).
Nevertheless. I’m actually good with it. Some red pumps and a cute halter top would go well with those staid Airline-grey flannel button downs. At least I’m not afraid to wear jewelry.
*if you don’t ask, I won’t tell.
A sober judge will slap this insanity down.
Right?
Flamboyant gays sashing their way through the aisle of your cross-country flight. Just like the kind of stuff that happens with much fanfare at the White House! Lovely…
RE:”I think what may begin to happen is that employers will just not hire people who are not clearly male or female…” A rational thought for an irrational world which will immediately seize on the opportunity to challenge such a policy as unconstitutional under the Civil Rights Act. A litigation which will likely be found in favor of the fluid.
I am going to demand that my employer supply hay for our office kitchen galley. As one who self-identifies as a horse, it is patently unfair that they only provide tea and coffee. Trans-species people need to be treated with dignity. Next, horse stalls in the bathroom.
I think what may begin to happen is that employers will just not hire people who are not clearly male or female. Perhaps that is going on now.
There was a rumor the other day that the local school board had approved placing litter boxes in all the classrooms of the elementary schools for the use of kids who identify as cats. Maybe the fact that we are finally using humor to define this craziness means we are getting closer to returning to some semblence of sanity. The dictionary defines “normal” as “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern: characterized by that which is considered usual, typical, or routine.” This business of people voluntarily changing gender, clothing, and pronouns from a normal to abnormal distribution is, well, not normal, to say the least. Tolerance works both ways. If someone like this airline attendant wants its views respected, it must respect mine in return. The solution here is quite simple, come to think of it.
It’s true some schools stock litter in classrooms. The litter is for children to use the toilet during an hours long lockdown like the one at Uvalde TX that lasted 8 hours because the cops were too scared to stop it.
Call him a steward. Watch his head explode!
Medically he is a narcissist and you can find a great number of psychologists and psychiatrists who will say it as well. I think that the best is probably using a gender neutral uniform and sticking to it. Other constraints can be used and described and have people sign it before employment. No earrings over a certain size (as small as possible), no nose rings (could be a hazard in choppy air, no telling what it might get caught on) and no tattoos visible or tongue piercings, nipple rings would be ok but you have to keep them covered. Or you could just have everyone, including the pilots dress up in clown suits. You could have themed flights like all clowns, leather straps and whips for another (not conducive to cold weather in Alaska though), a toga party flight with an orgy for mealtime, etc. The possibilities are endless. I think I’ll take the cruise to Alaska.
The prog/left always wants it both ways (pun not intended) in that they want to restrict the right’s world views and beliefs and punish them for holding such beliefs yet they want EVERYONE to accept their beliefs – no questions asked, with drastic government interference if we don’t comply. Selfish, self-centered and unhinged from reality is their working method and tyrannical, yet toddler-like rage, their response when not given their way. We are being held captive by a horde of childish, miseducated,delusional brats. And what is the most insidious part of this is that they are being urged on by corrupt adults who use this intentionally fostered delusion to manipulate these ignorant followers in order to maintain their own power and financial means.
I dare him to apply at Emirates Air.
👍👍
I identify as a superhero. I want to wear my Superman uniform. I want in now !!! I want it now!!! Give me my way!!!
A member of our family is working with a construction company that is remodeling a section of a major university. One of their crew found a room with foam bats, stuffed animals and comfy chairs. It was a safe space. Can you imagine this in a school two generations ago? World War 2 was fought by teens and young adults.
Thousands upon thousands of years of history and suddenly in the past 10-15 years appears this bizarreness in the western world. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions would be happy just to have clean water or their next meal.
The ACLU, natch. If there is anything redeeming remaining in these liberal organizations, I’d sure love for someone to point it out to me. So glad the grownups are back in charge. 🙄🙄
Now that this is a public story I hope this guy gets googled every time he goes for a job. The guy wants to work facing the public and then he demands that he can dress like it’s Halloween while on the job. Every future employer should know about the trouble this guy will make at any place he is working.
This is the very odd acts of a true narcissist the kind of actions we just witnessed with Sam Brinton, the now fired Nuclear Waste Department employee who couldn’t get enough of his image in moronic outfits.
Hullbobby
In a demented way, Biden hiring Brinton was a great move for us (normal Americans).
The left is trying to normalize aberrant behavior.
Grand Admiral Levine is a pathetic figure whom we pity.
Brinton is a criminal narcissist who shows where compassion ends.
they are mentally unstable and its time to treat them as such AND not be afraid to say it
I can’t wait for the blind pilot to sue.
He voluntarily chose to accept a public-facing position with Alaska Airlines knowing AA’s corporate policies would conflict with his narcissistic fashion/lifestyle choices. I suspect he deceptively concealed his lifestyle choice in order to get the job. If true, he should be fired for dishonesty.
These freaks are the biggest narcissists on the planet. His whole schtick is, “Hey everybody, look at me as I give my middle finger to society’s norms.” He belongs in the circus. There he can get honest work “being his authentic self” where people will pay to gawk at him all day.
I have no sympathy for people who put their confused gender status in our faces, but don’t blame the narcissistic employee. He/she’s only taking advantage of an opportunity that an insane state legislature gave him/her (I refuse to use a plural pronoun to describe these people)
. Unload on the “legislators” who passed and the governor who approved this monstrosity of a law. It is written so broadly that the employee’s claims are legitimate under the law.
“Everywhere there’s – freaks and hairies, dykes and fairies – tell me where is sanity?”
Deb, it took more than “Ten Years After”, but society did get to this ridiculous point. Great comment!
Nothing but FREAKS, complete insanity!
The mental patient needs to either get help, or a different job.