Transsexuals win harassment suit against Toys "R" Us

advocate.com ^ | 6/28/02 | n/a

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Transsexuals win harassment suit against Toys "R" Us A jury on Thursday found that three transgendered people who sued Toys "R'' Us were illegally harassed by workers while shopping at a Brooklyn store. However, the jury did not award the asked-for $900,000 in damages to plaintiffs Donna McGrath, Tanya Jinks, and Tara Lopez.

Attorney for the plaintiffs Tom Shanahan called the verdict in federal court--in which the jury agreed that the Toys "R'' Us employees had violated city civil rights codes--"a moral victory for the transsexual community.''

But McGrath said she was disappointed with jurors' decision to award each plaintiff only $1. "They don't understand us,'' McGrath said. "They can't walk in our shoes.'' McGrath, Jinks, and Lopez had each sought $300,000 in damages in what Shanahan described as a landmark lawsuit combining issues of sexual identity, civil rights, and corporate responsibility. The plaintiffs claimed that during two shopping excursions at a Toys "R" Us store in December 2000, employees called them names and menaced them with baseball bats because they are transgendered. They accused the company of ignoring its own antidiscrimination policies by not disciplining the workers

Attorneys for Toys "R'' Us, the country's second-largest seller of toys, had no immediate comment on the verdict.

[Dog Gone]

"They don't understand us,'' McGrath said. "They can't walk in our shoes.''

Well, of course not. Those narrow toe high heels are a killer.

[scan58]

--"a moral victory for the transsexual community.''

What a play on words.

[Redcloak]

$1!?!?! That's an outrage! You can't buy a decent pair of size 15, fire-engine red pumps with 4" stiletto heels for $1!

[Argus]

McGrath said she was disappointed with jurors' decision to award each plaintiff only $1

(S)he's used to getting at least ten times that much from just about any trucker on the West Side Highway.

[IronJack]

But McGrath said she was disappointed with jurors' decision to award each plaintiff only $1.

Put it toward eye shadow, nutcase.

[Paul Atreides]

You know, I really have to wonder if all of these "employee discrimination" suits are actually something worked out in advance among friends. Just think, someone who knows a protected minority goes to work in a business, the minority member walks in, they harass the person, and BOOM, instant lawsuit. Then, if they get a settlement, they split the windfall. All I know is that I have never heard employees outright harassing any customer.

[CedarDave]

What kind of "toys" were they shopping for?

[TomB]

Jurors should have awarded them each a box of Barbie clothes and a Ken doll.

"There you go slugger, have at it"

[Caipirabob]

"They don't understand us,'' McGrath said. "They can't walk in our shoes.''

...and we don't want to. Go take your dollar, buy a glad bag and go suffocate yourself, freak!

[The_Media_never_lie]

--"a moral victory for the transsexual community.''

What a play on words.

You beat me to it.

And where might that be, the transsexual community?

[Swanks]

Maybe they will be awarded some "toys" to play with.

[Capriole]

$1!?!?! That's an outrage! You can't buy a decent pair of size 15, fire-engine red pumps with 4" stiletto heels for $1!

It's this kind of remark that makes me glad I'm a Freeper. You guys are so great (and are so funny).

[RasterMaster]

They could get three flannel shirts at a garage sale for $1.00, or they could talk to Terry Bradshaw (10-10-220) for some advice.

[The Iceman Cometh]

But McGrath said she was disappointed with jurors' decision to award each plaintiff only $1

Hey, don't you know you can get a 20 minute phone call for a buck?

[Glutton]

Of course these ladies don't want a buck. If they were facinated by bucks, they wouldn't be counterfeiting themselves into does now would they? ;-)

[Dog Gone]

Boys 'R' Us ... Not! Transsexuals sue toy chain

By Denise Buffa

Three transsexuals have sued Toys "R" Us, claiming they were threatened by bat-wielding workers while shopping for life-size Barbie Dolls last Christmas at the Bensonhurst store.

The three men-turned-women say they went to the Bay Parkway store Dec. 20 when a mob of workers called them "fags," "faggots," "homos," and "disgusting transvestites," and threatened to attack them with bats.

"I was scared for my life," said Donna McGrath, a 27-year-old blond homemaker who lives with her husband in Brooklyn's Midwood section.

McGrath and her friends - Tanya Jinks, 37, of Bensonhurst, a former law clerk who is now a dancer, and Tara Lopez, 25, of Midwood, who works in a nightclub - filed a suit Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court asking for at least $100,000 each in damages for discrimination.

"The simple question that this case presents is whether or not the defendants are Toys 'R' Us or Bigots 'R' Us," their Manhattan lawyer, Thomas Shanahan, told The Post.

Toy "R" Us did not return phone calls, but in a letter to the complaining customers, the firm said, in part, that an internal investigation found "no fault on our part ... As we are sure you can understand, the fact that an incident occurred on our premises does not automatically make us responsible."

The Dec. 20 incident marked the second time the transsexual trio had visited the Toys "R" Us Bensonhurst store.

The first time they went in was Dec. 13, when they say a woman working there spotted them.

Before they knew it, the three say more than half a dozen workers were calling them names.

When the three complained to the manager, they say he warned the workers and offered them a 50 percent discount, which they accepted.

The three say they felt safe enough to return to the store Dec. 20.

But the three said things were worse on that visit. Workers followed them and verbally abused them, armed with bats, they say.

[Glutton]

Thanks for the story with more details. On a note more serious then my last post, these workers should not have been threatening violence.

Violence taints any positive message from the opinions on gender dysphoria's lack of credibility.

They set themselves up as straw men. They would have been better off shunning these people as best as they could and just letting them do their business and getting out of the store.

For one thing, if a physical brawl had ensued and an employee hurt, the poor employer loses money if a worker's comp claim comes out of it.

When you sell your time for a wage, you have to deal with the public better then you would if you were on your own time.

Just my reflections on this sort of thing in general; this could apply to many other simular situations.

When I was younger and worked in a late night restaurant where a bunch of these 'ladies' would visit after one of their parties at a nearby gay bar in the wee hours of the morning they spent alot of money, and I would have been fired if I had done a simular such thing.

If one does not chose their battles and battlefield wisely, one stands to lose the game of political brinksmanship.

[Dog Gone]

True, but you have to understand that Tanya's real name is David, and Tara's real name is Bert, and they WERE shopping for life-size Barbie dolls....

[Thisiswhoweare]

You know that "Girls" just wanna have fun... and at someone else's expense, evidently. Thank God the hate crime bill isn't in effect! Found it interesting that they took the 50% discount from the manager. Shows to go you that these type of people are in it for what they can get out of it.