Gender-neutral employee suing company after being wrongly referred to as a woman

A former catering worker in Oregon who identifies as neither female or male is suing Bon Appetit Management Co. for $518,000, claiming co-workers referred to the employee as a female though repeatedly being asked to stop.

Valeria Jones alleges in a lawsuit that co-workers repeatedly called Jones “miss,” “lady” and “little lady” despite explanations that Jones “was not a female or a male and that the term was unwelcome.” Workers also directly said Jones looked like a woman and made female celebrity comparisons, the suit states.



The lawsuit, filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says Jones preferred to be addressed by a general neutral pronoun. The suit doesn’t identify the term. The term “they” - rather than “he” or “she”-- is sometimes used to refer to a gender-neutral individual in the LGBTQ communities.

The suit which seeks seeks $18,682 in lost wages and benefits, and $500,000 for humiliation and suffering was filed by Portland attorney Donel Courtney. Bon Appetit declined to comment on specifics of the case because of the pending litigation and because it involves a personnel matter, but vice president Maisie Ganzler said, “I can say we are an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity of all kinds.”