DFEH Issues Guidelines Regarding Transgender Employees

On February 17, 2016, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing ("DFEH") issued guidelines on transgender employee rights. These guidelines address what questions employers can ask transgender employees (during the application process and otherwise), address how employers can implement dress code and grooming standards, and make suggestions for maintaining employee restrooms, showers, and locker rooms.

These guidelines come in the wake of increased attention to transgender employee rights in California and throughout the United States. In California, in 2014, in a case of first impression, the Sacramento Superior Court held that a transgender employee could pursue a discrimination claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA"). In that case, the employer had requested that the employee use restrooms and locker rooms designated for the employee's sex assigned at birth, as opposed to the employee's gender identity.