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Goins v. West Group11/21/2000
Petition for review granted January 26, 2001.
JULIENNE GOINS, APPELLANT,
v.
WEST GROUP RESPONDENT.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT
Appellant established a prima facie case of direct sexual orientation discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act by showing that she was denied use of the women's restroom in the workplace based on the fact that her female self-image is not traditionally associated with her biological maleness. Whether the work environment that resulted in and from appellant's exclusion from the women's restroom was sufficiently hostile to be actionable is a question of fact inappropriate for resolution by summary judgment.
Hennepin County District Court File No. 9818222
Joni M. Thome, Attorney at Law, 8400 Lyndale Avenue South, Suite 7, Bloomington, MN 55420 (for appellant) Patricia A. Bloodgood, Susan E. Ellingstad, Lockridge, Grindal, Nauen, P.L.L.P., 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2200, Minneapolis, MN 55401 (for respondent)
Considered and decided by Stoneburner, Presiding Judge, Foley, Judge,* and Mulally, Judge. * Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10. Retired judge of the district court, serving as judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Stoneburner, Judge
Reversed and remanded
OPINION
STONEBURNER, Judge
Appellant Julienne Goins challenges the district court's grant of summary judgment to her employer on her claims of intentional sexual orientation discrimination and hostile work environment under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Because the district court erred in its application of the law to the sexual orientation discrimination claim and because material questions of fact exist with regard to the hostile work environment claim, we reverse. We also reverse the district court's order compelling Goins to answer questions regarding her anatomy because such discovery is not relevant to her claims.
FACTS
When appellant Goins was born on April 15, 1973 she was designated "male" on her birth certificate. Through childhood and adolescence Goins was considered male, but she was confused about her sexual identity. In 1994 after counseling, she began taking female hormones. By the summer of 1995 Goins began to consistently present herself as female. In October 1995 a Texas court granted her petition to legally change her name from Justin Travis Goins to Julienne Hannah Goins. The Texas court order states that it constitutes authority for a change of gender from "genetic male" to "reassigned female" on any and all documents, including but not limited to Goins's birth certificate and Texas driver's license. Although Goins has not had elective surgery to alter any part of her anatomy, the parties do not dispute that Goins sincerely and consistently identifies herself as female.
In May 1997 Goins began working for West Group in Rochester, New York, where she worked for five months without incident. During the summer of 1997 she visited West's Eagan facility on four occasions. She agreed to relocate to Minnesota and began working at the Eagan facility on October 6, 1997.
Before Goins started work at Eagan, a group of approximately four women told Lewis Freeman, Director of Shared Services Human Resources for the Eagan facility, that they were uncomfortable with Goins
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