For a few minutes Tuesday, Vandy Beth Glenn thought the three-year odyssey to win her job back was finally over after a federal judge ordered that she be reinstated as legislative editor for the Georgia General Assembly. Turns out she'll have to wait a few more days.
Regardless, U.S. District Judge Richard Story's ruling guarantees that Glenn will be compensated, a byproduct of her successful sexual discrimination suit against her boss, legislative counsel Sewell Brumby. Glenn, hired as a man in 2005, was fired roughly two years later when she informed her immediate supervisor that she would no longer be hiding her gender identity.
She anticipated, after Story's remedy ruling, she'd be returning to work as early as next Monday. But before Glenn left court, the judge agreed to reconvene based on a request from Brumby's attorney, Rich Sheinis.
The defense, which already has announced it will appeal Story's ruling last month that Glenn was a victim of sexual discrimination, contended that her return to the legislative office would be disruptive with an appeal pending.
Story agreed to hear Sheinis' argument Friday morning. If the defense fails to sway the judge, Glenn will be back at work at the state Capitol, where she'll report to the same boss who fired her.
“It makes me think about things I don’t like to think about, particularly at work … I think it’s unsettling to think of someone dressed in women’s clothing with male sexual organs inside that clothing,” Brumby said in a deposition taken last year.
He has refused comment since Glenn filed suit.
Sheinis also declined comment following Tuesday's hearing.
Glenn, fighting back tears, said returning to her job is all she ever wanted.
"I have the box at home that I packed with all my belongings the day I was fired," she told the AJC. "I haven't touched it since that day."
She said she wants to be treated as any other employee, just as she was before Halloween 2006, when she came to the office dressed in conservative female attire. Glenn had been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, a psychiatric classification for people in conflict with their biological sex.
"I reached a point in my life where I said it was time to stop fronting," Glenn told the AJC last November. "Besides, I thought it was well understood this was a medical condition."
Her attorney, Greg Nevins, requested at Tuesday's hearing that Brumby be required to undergo sensitivity training, an issue still to be decided by Story. Also unresolved is whether Glenn will receive seniority lost when she was dismissed. She will not be compensated for lost wages.
"The only remedy the court can allow in this case is to restore Ms. Glenn to the position she had," Story said Tuesday.
Glenn said she has not talked to Brumby since her firing.
"My heart is open," she said.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
