Use of He/She Pronouns with Transgender Co-Worker Costs Employer $30K

A bar manager used he/she pronouns, along with gendered nicknames like “sweetheart” and “honey” to refer to a non-binary, gender fluid, transgender co-worker on their first day of work. They asked him to stop and use they/them pronouns instead. Four days later, things got heated, but the manager refused; other employees also bristled when the employee corrected them for using he/she pronouns. Four days later, things got heated and the employee was fired for coming off “too strong too fast” and being “militant.” The BC Human Rights Tribunal found the restaurant guilty of discrimination and awarded the employee $30,000 in damages. “Using correct pronouns communicates that we see and respect a person for who they are, especially for trans, non-binary or other non-cisgender people,” the Commission explained [Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137 (CanLII), September 29, 2021].