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Manager Fired After Transgender Discrimination Claim

POSTED: Monday, December 7, 2009
UPDATED: 7:26 pm EST December 7, 2009

An Orlando McDonald's has fired a manager after he was accused of refusing to hire a teen because she was transgendered.

The McDonald's on International Drive and Sand Lake Road issued a statement Monday evening saying, "Sand Lake Road McDonald’s has a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination or harassment in hiring, termination, or any other aspect of employment in the organization. The restaurant requires all employees to comply with local, state and federal employment laws."

The restaurant said it investigated Zikerria Bellamy's claim that the manager called her and left her a hateful voicemail.

"You will not get hired. We do not hire (expletive). You lied to me. You told me you were a woman," said the message Bellamy played for Local 6 News.

"The behavior of the individual in question is not reflective of the employment policies in the organization. Further, this individual acted outside the scope of his authority and was not responsible for hiring. The individual in question is no longer employed by the restaurant," the statement said.

Bellamy, 17, said Sunday she was considering filing a lawsuit after the restaurant allegedly refused to interview her for a possible job.

Bellamy said she did not check off a box on the application where it asked whether the applicant is male or female. According to the application, it states near the voluntary gender question that "failure to respond will not subject you to adverse treatment," D'Onofrio reported.

When she went in for the interview, Bellamy claims a manager forced her to check a box that would indicate her gender.

"Once I looked at his facial expression, when I checked off male, like the whole face just changed. He was upset. I seen the anger, you know, like you can tell when someone gets upset," Bellamy said.

Michael Silverman, the executive director and an attorney for the agency, flew from New York to Orlando and filed a discrimination complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

"We're asking them to take the complaint and make sure that McDonald's takes appropriate steps to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Silverman said.

"I'm angry. I'm hurt," Bellamy said. "You shouldn't judge someone based on who they are."
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