DECATUR, Ga. — A trans woman claims she was wrongfully fired from Chick-Fil-A after several instances of sexual harassment by co-workers based on her gender identity, according to a lawsuit.
The complaint, which was filed in late June, claims employees made inappropriate sexual comments and continuously misgendered Erin Taylor. The court documents referenced Taylor by her legal name, which is different from the name she uses.
"I was met with the aggression; I was met with the anger; I was met with the hatred, the transphobic and homophobic comments, the racial slurs," Taylor said. "And literally even my life threatened at one point."
Taylor began working at the fast-food chain along Trinity Pl. in Decatur in August 2021. She was training for a director of operations position when the lawsuit alleges another employee at the location began targeting her.
After several instances of her co-worker making unwanted comments that were "sexual" in nature, Taylor told her manager, who referred her to the franchise owner, Joe Engert.
Taylor met with Engert and the kitchen director a few days after starting the job; the suit said she told them she was trans and listed her concerns.
“The Franchise Owner responded by saying that it should be an honor that with (Taylor) being a transgender woman that someone liked her enough to hit on her,” the suit says.
Additionally, the lawsuit says the franchise owner told Taylor he would look into it, but if the harassment persisted, “they would have to focus more on the person claiming the harassment to see if there is an issue.”
"It made me feel very isolated because, again, this was my direct superiors," Talor said. "So if chaos was going on underneath me, you know, and I'm reporting it, and then I'm met with this. It felt like I was alone on an island."
Gender identity is a protected class in the U.S. as of 2020, making it illegal to discriminate against employees based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to the document, word spread through the store about Taylor's gender identity, and the taunting continued after her meeting. Other co-workers started joining in making homophobic comments and misgendering Taylor.
The only thing that did stop, Taylor said, was her training for a director of operations position.
"All of my training -- after I had started making these complaints -- had stopped," Taylor said. "We did no additional training."
The suit says Taylor complained again about being harassed in September 2021 and was fired not even two months later.
There were claims that she was let go after walking off the job on the clock, but attorneys claim in the lawsuit that her supervisor gave her permission to leave because she was being harassed. They said the defendant also claimed the reason for the termination was also due to tardiness, which resulted in one write-up.
Taylor believes they were looking for something to fire her over following her complaints.
"I think that if I'm being fully honest, I think they were waiting for a situation or a moment like this to happen to retaliate against me," she said.
Attorneys are asking for damages for mental and emotional suffering and made other requests in the complaint.
"Because plaintiff engaged in protected activity, defendant retaliated against Plaintiff by, including but not limited to, failing to investigate her claims of harassment, failure in taking measures to prevent further harassment, and terminating her employment," the lawsuit reads.
Taylor said she filed the lawsuit in hopes that this brings attention to these types of issues.
"If you are in an environment that is not conducive, you know, it's not professional, you're not being handled with care, as you should, to speak up," Taylor said. "Don't let someone silence your voice."
11Alive reached out to Chick-fil-A for comment and said since the corporation was not the employer and is not named in the suit, officials declined to comment and pointed to the franchise where Taylor worked. 11Alive has not heard back from them either.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
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