EEOC Sues Culver’s for Discriminating Against Transgender Employee and Retaliating Against Him and His Co-Workers

CLARKSTON, Mich. – Five related entities operating Culver’s restaurants in Michigan violated federal law when they fired a transgender employee and three of his colleagues after they complained about harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The EEOC said the harassment included repeated misgendering, deadnaming (using a name a person no longer uses against their wishes) and publicizing his birth name without consent.

According to the lawsuit, Asher Lucas, a transgender Culver’s shift manager, was repeatedly and purposely misgendered by two employees. Three of Lucas’s colleagues witnessed one of the employees, who was openly hostile toward gay and transgender people, make anti-trans comments and misgender him. Lucas and his colleagues reported the harassment to a Culver’s general manager, but nothing was done to stop the harassment, the EEOC says. Instead, the employee was emboldened to obtain Lucas’s birth name, deadname him, and reveal his birth name to co-workers without his consent.

As alleged in the complaint, Lucas and his colleagues complained again to their Culver’s general manager about the co-worker’s escalating offensive conduct. Instead of investigating Lucas’s and his co-workers’ complaints of harassment, Culver’s fired them the day after they complained, the EEOC charges.  

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their transgender status and prohibits retaliating against employees for opposing or complaining about sex-based harassment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Brik Enterprises, Inc., et al., Case No. 24-cv-12817) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

“Employers must protect all employees, including transgender employees, from sex-based harassment at work,” said Omar Weaver, assistant regional attorney in the EEOC’s Detroit office. “When employees complain of harassment, whether directed at them or witnessed by them, employers cannot fire those employees because of their complaints.”

For more information on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-sogi-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Detroit Field Office, one of four component offices of the agency’s Indianapolis District Office. The Indianapolis District Office has jurisdiction over Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and parts of Ohio.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.