A trans woman has been awarded $930,000 after suffering harassment by fellow employees while working at a McDonald’s restaurant in Washington, DC. The ruling ended a lengthy legal battle, with the jury agreeing that Diana Portillo Medrano was subjected to “a barrage of taunts, laughter, ridicule, and harassment” because of her gender identity.

Having emigrated from El Salvador, Medrano was hired in 2011 as a customer service rep without legal authorisation to work in the United States. Even so, she enjoyed a “successful five-year career with McDonald’s marked by raises, promotions, and awards and absence of discipline,” as per the lawsuit.

However, the discrimination against her began when she started to transition.

“Managers and supervisors routinely referred to her as male despite her expressed request that they respect her gender identity as female, encouraging co-workers to harass her relentlessly in like fashion,” the lawsuit explained. “When she complained to her managers, they claimed that the harassment was justified because she hadn’t legally changed her name.”

Medrano reported the situation to the DC Office of Human Rights, but was later fired by the Virginia-based franchise owner International Golden Foods LLC (IGF) and MCI Golden Foods LLC, who used her undocumented status as a justification. However, the evidence presented across the eight-day civil trial demonstrated that Medrano was one of many employees hired without legal authorisation to work in the US.

“After she formalized and elevated her complaints, defendants fired her on pretextual grounds. Defendants discriminated against Ms. Medrano because of her gender identity and retaliated against her in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act,” the complaint stated.

The jury agreed that Medrano was harassed while working at McDonald’s because she is trans, and was fired for complaining rather than for her undocumented status. She was awarded $700,000 in punitive damages and $230,000 for emotional distress. 

Congratulations to Jonathan Puth and the team at @CorreiaPuth on this important win for Diana. This is believed to be the first time a D.C. jury has ruled in favor of a trans employee fighting discrimination under the District’s Human Rights Law. https://t.co/Jv1YR7Jw0E

— Steve Ralls (@steve_ralls) September 30, 2024

Speaking after the conclusion of the case, Jonathan Puth, one of Medrano’s attorneys, said: “The jury clearly found that IGF continually used unauthorised employees, hired and employed unauthorised workers knowingly…And they never fired anyone for that reason at any of their stores except for Diana.”

He continued: “They were motivated to retaliate against her because she kept complaining about discrimination.”

Puth concluded, saying: “Diana is our hero…She stood up for her rights in the face of terrible harassment and kept fighting even after she was fired for doing so. This verdict puts other employers on notice that tolerating harassment of transgender employees is both unlawful and costly.”

Medrano herself spoke after the verdict, expressing: “When you are sure of what you have experienced, no matter how much time passes, the truth will come to light…Our truth is our best weapon to achieve justice…It is truth, justice, and faith in God that have helped me get here.”