Michigan funeral home settles landmark transgender bias case for $250k

A Michigan funeral home has agreed to pay $250,000 to the estate of a transgender former funeral director to settle a landmark lawsuit that led the US Supreme Court to rule discrimination against transgender workers is a form of unlawful sex bias.

RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes Inc and lawyers for the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the estate of Aimee Stephens filed a joint consent decree in Detroit federal court on Monday, bringing the 2014 lawsuit to a close.

Stephens died aged 59 from complications related to kidney disease in May, weeks before the Supreme Court issued its decision.

She became the public face of the EEOC's lawsuit after having been fired from her job as an embalmer and director at the funeral home in Garden City in 2013 when she told her boss that she no longer wanted to be recognized as a man.

Stephens' boss said her appearance would be a distraction for grieving families after she said she wanted to wear a conservative skirt suit or dress to work.

Under Monday's settlement, which was approved by US District Judge Sean Cox, Harris Homes will pay $130,000 to Stephens' estate, plus $120,000 in legal costs and fees.

The company also agreed to pay $3,700 to 17 female employees to settle a separate claim that Harris Homes engaged in sex bias by providing suits to men while requiring women to buy their own clothing for work.

'This settlement marks a closing chapter in Aimee Stephens’ remarkable fight for justice,' Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who worked on the case, said in a statement.

'We are sad that Aimee is not here to experience this moment with her wife Donna and grateful for all that Aimee, Donna, and the many trans fighters for justice and their families have done to bring us to this place.'

Strangio added: 'As Aimee always said, this fight is about more than just her and it will stretch far beyond this case.'

The EEOC had accused Harris Homes of sex discrimination in violation of T... (Read more)

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