Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based computer storage company Dell EMC received a perfect score on HRC’s 2016 workplace equality index. It also was named one of the top companies for LGBT employees by Diversity Inc.
Still, the tech giant agreed this week to pay a formerly employed transgender woman $60,000 to settle her claim that she had endured a hostile work environment and retaliation after she made a complaint.
“This case is a reminder that all employers, even those who are leaders in matters of diversity and inclusion, must be proactive about identifying and eliminating discrimination,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “We appreciate Dell EMC’s efforts to successfully resolve this issue,” said Healey.
According to the Boston Globe, “The former employee claims she was also denied job opportunities because of her gender identity. As part of the settlement, Healey said the company would submit its discrimination and diversity policies to her office for review and that it would also provide training to its Massachusetts employees.”
Dell EMC will also donate $25,000 each to two local nonprofits that promote transgender employment: TransCanWork and Girls Inc.
Jeanie You, Vice President of Marketing and Communications atTransCanWork, told the Framingham Source: “Transgender people are coming in from the social margins and increasingly coming out of the shadows at work. Employment provides solutions for housing, health issues, pride, acceptance, a sense of community and an overall better quality of life. This case is particularly important as statistics show an ever increasing number of youth—the incoming workforce—identifying as transgender, non-conforming, or non-binary.”
“We are grateful for the support toward our EUREKA! program, a five year, leadership and STEM intensive program for eighth–twelfth grade girls in the Worcester area,” Victoria Waterman, CEO of Girls Inc. of Worcester, told the Source. “EUREKA! encourages and teaches adolescent girls through a combination of engaging STEM activities; personal, career, and leadership development; and physical activity.”
