A former state employee living as a transgender woman on Friday filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against leading Georgia lawmakers and the supervisor who fired her.

Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, a former employee in the General Assembly Office of Legislative Counsel, was fired after she told supervisors she no would no longer come to work as a man.

AP Photo / Lambda Legal, Donovan Johnson

Former state employee Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, formerly Glenn Morrison, has filed a federal lawsuit against top Georgia legislative officials.

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The lawsuit names the office's director, Sewell Brumby, House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate President Pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah).

Glenn is represented by lawyers with Lambda Legal, a gay rights advocacy group.

According to the lawsuit, Brumby fired Glenn on Oct. 16, 2007, "after confirming with her that she intended to undergo transition from male to female and to present herself as a woman in the workplace."

The lawyers contend the Georgia officials violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantee.

Cole Thaler, one of Glenn's attorneys, acknowledged that Georgia is an "at-will employment state," which he said means employees "can be fired for a good reason, they can be fired for a bad reason or no reason at all. But they cannot be fired for an illegal reason," Thaler said.

Glenn's lawyers allege that Richardson, Cagle, Johnson and others were consulted about the matter before the firing took place.

Glenn said Brumby told her "he thought co-workers would be uncomfortable and that the legislators would think it is immoral."

Brumby said "the lawsuit is without merit, and I'm not going to go into any other details than that."

Richardson declined to discuss the lawsuit. Cagle and Johnson could not be immediately reached for comment.

Asked whether she was prepared for the intense personal scrutiny that would likely accompany a federal lawsuit, Glenn replied, "It has been said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. I'm not exactly a man anymore, but I'm not going to do nothing."