January 16, 2013 - Texas Workforce Commission

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1 have a choice, while men didn't.
2 And on that simplistic level the cases
3 seem to be different. My opinion is that it misses
4 the mark, and the -- the more important concept is the
5 one of widely-accepted social norms. In a
6 professional environment, I believe there's a norm
7 that women may have short hair or long and that men
8 are expected to have short hair. The employer was
9 merely applying that norm, and that was upheld in the
10 case.
11 We will be accepting cases under this
12 theory of discrimination. I believe since April we
13 have already closed two cases on the theory of sex
14 stereotyping applied to individuals who are lesbian,
15 gay, bisexual, or transgendered. I haven't looked at
16 either of the cases. I have seen them listed on a --
17 a report of cases by basis and issue.
18 At this point I believe that in this
19 area there are more questions than answers. As I
20 mentioned earlier in the meeting, there is a bill
21 pending before the Texas Legislature right now that
22 would amend Texas law. In my opinion, the difference
23 between a new protected class and the theory of sex
24 stereotyping under existing law is that requiring an
25 individual to prove a case under existing law requires