A Minnesota furniture retailer will pay $60,000 to a transgender job applicant who was denied because he would not “mix well with the customers,” federa♏l officials said.
Frizzell Furniture, which promises to rekindle the , agreed to the payout after an 𒊎investigation found it didn’t hire a transgender job applicant due to gender identity discrimination, .
The company with locations in Walker and Bemidji will also implement an anti-discrimination policy and adopt more objective criteria for its st♛affing decisions after the federal agency determined a hiring official turned down the transgender applicant in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The act prohibits sex discrimination — including bias based on transgender status — as well as discriminatory hiring decisions based on perceived customer preference, the EEOC said.
“We appreciate that Frizzell Furniture worked cooper﷽atively with the EEOC to resolve this charge without having to go through protracted litigation,” Julianne Bowman, head of the EEOC’s Chicago district, said in a statementꦜ.
But Dick Frizzell, who launched the family-run 𓃲business in 1992, he wasn’t pleased with the o𓂃utcome of the investigation.
“Obviously, no,” Frizzell told the newspaper. “We h𝓰ire people that have the skills or the experience to do the jobs. We have several classes of peoಌple … Native Americans, openly gay people. We do not intend to discriminate against people.”
The applicant sought a job at the Bemidji location early last year. Frizzell initially hesitated b🐓efore responding when asked Wednesday if he would reconsider hiring him, the Star Tribu꧟ne reported.
“If a person such as 🍌them were applying for a position and had the qualifications, I would hire that person,” Frizzell told the news🍷paper.
Insurance will cover the 🍒$60,000 payout, but the case also led to additional, unspecified costs to his business, Frizzel💯l said.
Theꩲ company is the largest furniture re♓tailer in northern Minnesota, according to its website.