A federal appeals court is siding with a transgender corrections officer in Georgia, reviving a lawsuit he filed over a hostile work environment he claimed to endure at the hands of his colleagues. Tyler Copeland, who worked as a sergeant at Rogers State Prison, alleged that he was subjected to mockery and intentional misgendering by his co-workers, who referred to him with female pronouns and diminutive names such as "ma'am" and "baby girl," reported WABE.
Following Copeland's decision to come out as transgender, he claimed to face a torrent of disrespect; subordinates and superiors alike began to ignore and disobey his commands, pushing and shoving him, which especially in a prison environment, this threatened not just his authority but also his safety, Circuit Judge Jill Pryor detailed in a comprehensive 32-page opinion. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a previous lower court ruling that had favored the Georgia Department of Corrections, which was initially dismissed due to purported insufficient evidence demonstrating that the harassment was "sufficiently severe or pervasive."
The case brought forth by Copeland presents three claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. In addition to the verbal harassment, Copeland contends that he was unjustly reassigned to an unfavorable night shift and that his superiors interfered with his ability to attend scheduled medical appointments.
The decision by the federal appeals court to allow the lawsuit to proceed was anchored in the possibility that "a reasonable jury" might find in favor of Copeland based on the evidence available—this, according to Judge Pryor, whose analysis appeared to see merit in Copeland's claims, suggesting that the jury could indeed find the allegations credible “We are more than satisfied that it could,” Pryor said, a statement obtained by WABE highlights. In response to the ruling, the Georgia Department of Corrections defended its position, saying it took prompt action to rectify the hostile work environment reported by Copeland.
