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35K Settlement in Caliente Cab Restroom Gender Lawsuit
By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2008
Modified May 13, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 13, 2008
Modified May 13, 2008
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Anyone who’s ever declared, “You couldn’t pay me to eat at Caliente Cab Company” should consider the case of Khadijah Farmer, whose humiliating experience at the West Village tourist trap netted her $35,000 today. While patronizing the restaurant after the Gay Pride parade last year, Farmer was ousted from the ladies room by the bouncer, who interrupted her while she was on the toilet because he thought she was a he.
The bouncer, who had been responding to a customer complaint, refused to look at Farmer’s I.D., which proves her gender. He then added injury to insult by ejecting Farmer’s party from the restaurant mid-meal. In the settlement announced today, Caliente gets to deny the facts of Farmer’s complaint, but will add gender identity to its non-discrimination policy, adopt a gender-neutral employee dress code, and provide sensitivity training to employees. Oh, and cough up 35K.
The gender discrimination lawsuit was filed in October in State Supreme Court by Farmer and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. In a statement issued today, Farmer says she’s “very happy that the restaurant has taken appropriate steps to ensure that all patrons, regardless of how masculine or feminine they appear, are treated with dignity and respect.”
Tagged
$35000
bathroom
bouncer
Caliente Cab Company
female
gender
Khadijah Farmer
ladies
lawsuit
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restaurant
restroom
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woman
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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