Chicago Tribune: Transgender woman accuses Gov. J.B. Pritzker's campaign of discrimination in federal lawsuit
A transgender woman and field organizer for Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker filed a federal lawsuit Friday accusing Pritzker’s campaign of firing her “because of her sex and/or gender.” Emma Todd was hired by Pritzker’s campaign in 2017 and fired in late March of 2018, according to the lawsuit. Her supervisor “viewed transgender identity as a sexual fetish, asked about transgender sexual habits in a prurient manner, and stated that Ms. Todd was ‘the reason people don’t like transgender people,’ ” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said Todd’s work “was not the type of performance that merited serious correction or criticism that would subject her to termination … unless illegal discrimination were a motivating factor.”
Pritzker campaign spokesman Quentin Fulks said “Ms. Todd was fired for cause.” “She had a number of behavioral issues that she was reprimanded for throughout the course of the campaign,” Fulks said. He also said Todd’s termination was part of a downsizing of the campaign operation after the primary election.
Pritzker pumped more than $171 million of his own money into his campaign operation, paying for both advertising and a massive field operation that carried him to victory over former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Todd’s attorney, Jillian T. Weiss, said she had “extensive conversations” with the Pritzker campaign about settling the lawsuit before it was filed.
“Ms. Todd is very much in favor of Gov. Pritzker and the work that he is doing. She’s not blaming him for what happened,” Weiss said. “But unfortunately it did happen.”
In the lawsuit, Todd asks for damages related to humiliation and job loss and wants the campaign to “carry out policies, practices, programs, and training which provide equal employment opportunities for employees who are transgender, have undergone a gender transition, or are undergoing a gender transition.”
Todd’s lawsuit isn’t the first charge of discrimination in the Pritzker campaign. Three weeks before Election Day, Pritzker campaign staffers filed a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in their months on the job, accusations the then-candidate called “just not true.” That lawsuit alleged that African-American and Latino campaign staffers “are herded into race-specific positions where they are expected to interact with the public, offered no meaningful chance for advancement, and receive less favorable treatment than their white counterparts.”
mriopell@chicagotribune.com Twitter @mikeriopell
https://trib.in/2RCp5or
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