EEOC Sues Bojangles Over Workplace for Transgender Worker

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The federal agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws is going to court on behalf of a transgender woman fired from a North Carolina fast-food restaurant.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday it's filed a lawsuit against Bojangles Restaurants Inc. The EEOC accuses the company of subjecting a transgender employee to a hostile work environment because of her gender identity. The lawsuit also alleges Bojangles fired Jonathan Wolfe in retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment.

The agency says Wolfe is a transgender woman who worked at a Fayetteville Bojangles restaurants.

Bojangles spokesman Brian Little says the company a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and all other protected characteristics. He says Bojangles' decision to terminate Wolfe because of insubordination and other misconduct rather than sex or gender identity.

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