Throughout her previous employment
, and during her initial six months of employment
she
h
a
d
lived as a male
, presenting a masculine
appearance and using the name
Christopher, even though she had begun her gender transition pre
-
hire. Over the course
of her employment, she began to dress in a feminine manner, using nail polish,
trimming eyebrows, wearing mascara, growing her hair out, a
nd ultimately using the
name
Christine
. Although she continued to wear the company’s mandated unisex
uniform of a polo shirt and slacks, she violated the company grooming policy, which
prohibited male employees from wearing hair below the collar or earrings or
other
jewelry and generally required all workers to present “a conservative, socially
acceptable general appearance.”
Following more than 50
alleged
customer complaints
about her appearance,
Ms. Jones, her immediate supervisor,
demanded that
M
s.
Thomas
appear at work dressed as a man and
ultimately discharged her
when she
refused