Disparaging remarks by colleagues

Kylie* is a transgender woman who has Autism. 

Kylie lodged a disability and transgender discrimination complaint with ADNSW after experiencing discrimination in the workplace. ADNSW investigated the matter by obtaining relevant information from Kylie and her employer.  

Kylie said that she was harassed by several co-workers who made disparaging remarks about her, would repeatedly fail to use her preferred name, and failed to provide her with appropriate training experiences. One of her coworkers later also refused to work with her. 

She said that when she reported this conduct to her employer, it failed to investigate her complaint properly and impartially, in accordance with its own policies. Kylie said this resulted in her being victimised, when she suffered further ill treatment, and was prevented from attending an important training event. Kylie said she was instead forced to re-live the discrimination, which resulted in her sustaining a psychological injury.                                                                            

The employer denied that it had failed to appropriately investigate Kylie’s concerns. The employer said that complaints had also been made about Kylie by her co-workers, which they were bound to also investigate. This included comments that Kylie had allegedly made to co-workers, which had raised serious concerns. 

ADNSW held a conciliation conference via MS Teams. Kylie and her employer both decided that their employment relationship could not continue. The complaint was settled by an agreed mutual separation and the payment of an agreed monetary sum to Kylie, in exchange for a mutual release.

* Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual