English version of article:
Trans woman sues McDonald's: Muslim employee refuses to share changing room
In a McDonald's branch in Berlin, a trans woman is denied access to the women's changing room. Now the case ends up in court and could have consequences.
Is McDonald's trans-hostile? On the outside, the company is colourful, with the Pride flag on their advertising & menus etc. According to trans woman Kylie, however, this is more appearance than reality. Until a few months ago, the Libyan still worked for the fast food giant - today she sits as a plaintiff in the Berlin Labour Court.
The reason for the legal dispute is quickly explained: A Muslim employee refused to share the changing room with a trans woman. After just a few minutes, it will become clear this Tuesday that it will take a lot of time to reach an agreement.
Transwoman Kylie has been working in the McDonald's branch in Berlin Central Station for four years. In the past, her transidentity did not play a role at work, only on weekends she put on women's clothes and took part in drag queen parties. But that was no longer enough for her. One day she told her colleagues that she would now like to be addressed by the name Kylie and would like to wear the McDonald's women's uniform in the future.
"The plaintiff did not inform her superior at any time that she is a woman from now on," says the company's lawyer. Said supervisor and all employees nevertheless took into account the wishes of today's plaintiff until an employee, Mrs. M., asked Kylie to leave the ladies' changing room and not to use it in the future. At least that's how the plaintiff's lawyer describes the incident before the labor court.
A clear case of "discrimination," at least for Kylie's lawyer. Subsequently, "disadvantages also arose, as Kylie was only provided with a storage room as a changing room." The plaintiff does not comment in the courtroom on that day, but then says that she actually did not want to come at all. Why did she come anyway? "The internet is going crazy."
Just a few hours before the conciliation proceeding in the labour court, the queer magazine Siegessäule published an interview with the trans woman. In it, she also makes accusations against her superiors, who supported Muslim employee and thus tolerated discrimination in the workplace. She has not resigned & wants to return to work soon after several months of loss of work due to health problems - again in the branch at the main station.
The mood in the hall is visibly tense, you can imagine the judge is looking for "as neutral as possible" words with which the facts can be described. In the opinion of the plaintiff's lawyer, the incident and the behavior of the superiors go "in the direction of sexual harassment". What Ms. M. says about this and whether she may also have felt harassed by Kylie's presence in the ladies' changing room remains unclear. She has not yet been called as a witness.
A payment of damages of 8000 euros is sought, but not accepted as a final solution by the plaintiff. She wants a long-term solution - the use of the women's changing room. McDonald's first agreed to a payment, then withdrew it and refers to "false claims of the plaintiff". The company had sought the conversation several times and in no way made discriminatory statements.
It stands for statement against statement. "I think it's best if all those involved gather and revise the indictment," says the judge after just under an hour. However, she also points out that a pain and suffering payment will not resolve the conflict.
Only when a changing room is available that Kylie is allowed to use can the file be closed. Conversely, this would mean that all trans employees would have the right to their own changing rooms - and the company would have to retrofit in all 1400 German branches. The lawyer of the fast food giant did not want to comment to the Berliner Zeitung. When and how it will continue is currently unclear.
(I fixed the issues with the autotranslated page basically, but yell if I missed something!)