Trans Former Employee Accuses Agency of Bias

Berkeley officials will investigate a city-funded agency that provides services to people with disabilities after a transgender former employee accused it of fostering a "psychologically tortuous" workplace and violating local laws and contracting procedures.

In emails to Berkeley officials, and documented in a complaint filed in November with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Orchid Bakla accuses Easy Does It Emergency Services staffers of discriminating against her based on her race - she is of Filipino and Caucasian descent - as well as her gender identity after she began transitioning from male to female while employed at the agency.

She also claims the agency retaliated against her for pointing out discrepancies in its reports to the city, such as one employee inflating their time sheets, and claims her warnings to a city contract monitor were ignored.

Easy Does It receives more than $1 million from a voter-approved property tax assessment passed in 1998 to provide transportation, attendant care, and other services to Berkeley residents with disabilities or people in need while working or visiting the city.

"EDI does not comply with Berkeley municipal law, nor their own internal policies and procedures. They do not comply with the contract set forth by the city of Berkeley," wrote Bakla, 29, who has yet to legally change her name, in an email to city officials that was shared with the Bay Area Reporter. "They do not accurately report the amount of calls they receive. They allowed forgery of checks, they allowed employees to charge clients for services that were free."

In the complaint filed with the state agency Bakla is identified under her birth name, Jonathan Grace, which she went by when Easy Does It hired her in August 2013. (She chose Bakla as her new last name, she said, partly because in the Tagalog language the term is used to refer to men who dress as women or identify as women.)

Bakla alleges that the harassment she experienced "included but was not limited to calling Grace ugly, awkward, bossy, etc. Employers (sic) manager also used the n-word, photographed Grace as an oddity, pressured Grace to discuss cosmetics and beauty, unfairly scrutinized and critiqued Graces (sic) work after Grace complained ..."

The complaint with the state employment and housing agency, which granted Bakla the right to sue, also alleges that Easy Does It management falsely claimed that Bakla had quit when she had been fired and "made untrue statements to local law enforcement that Grace had engaged in improper actions including but not limited to hacking such that law enforcement contacted Grace and threatened further action."

April Wick, executive director of Easy Does It, told the B.A.R. she could not comment on specific employees or specific personnel matters due to privacy laws, as well as on the advice of the agency's legal counsel due to the likelihood of legal action.

But Wick said she could discuss the agency's "values and procedures," noting that sexual orientation and gender identity are included in the non-discrimination policy set out in the handbook given to Easy Does It employees.

"We have a strong commitment to maintaining a diverse workforce," said Wick, who became executive director in April 2013. "We strongly value diversity, being a grassroots organization and given our history. We absolutely encourage and value all different types of people and want them to work for our agency."

Upon learning about Bakla's allegations, gay Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington last week requested city officials investigate the agency. In an interview with the B.A.R. this week, Worthington said he met with interim City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley Monday morning and she agreed to move forward with an inquiry.

"I am pretty deeply concerned," said Worthington, adding later that, "We can't predetermine every single concern raised is totally valid. On the surface it seems pretty clear this employee certainly was made to feel very uncomfortable while transitioning."

Asked if Berkeley required transgender sensitivity training for city contractors, Worthington said he didn't believe it did but should.

"We need to make sure we have policies and procedures in place so no other people get treated like this," he said.

In his email to Williams-Ridley requesting an investigation, Worthington emphasized that, "People of color and transgender people must not be subjected to the described abuse, and we must investigate the details of what happened."

According to Worthington, Williams-Ridley said Bakla's claims are "extremely serious and important and she is taking immediate action."

Williams-Ridley did not respond to the B.A.R. 's request for comment. Asked to confirm that the city will be investigating Easy Does It, city spokesman Matthai Chakko wrote in an email, "Yes, I can confirm that we are looking into the matter."

As of Tuesday afternoon city officials had yet to notify Wick of any investigation into the agency, nor had she seen the emails Bakla had sent to council members. Thus, Wick said she could not directly comment on either but pledged to work with the city if it does launch an inquiry.

"They have a duty, just as I do as a steward and official of public funds, to make sure all city rules are being followed. I welcome, as the executive director, public officials doing their job," said Wick. "If there is an investigation, I will cooperate and our agency will cooperate fully with it."

Bakla's attorney, Joshua Watson, told the B.A.R. this week that he intends to file a lawsuit against the agency in state court sometime in late September. He said they decided to pursue legal action after the agency refused to meet with him and resolve the matter.

"We did reach out to Easy Does It and their counsel. But for whatever reason, they declined to engage in conversations with us," said Watson. "At one point we wanted to see if we could repair the relationships. It would have to have included some changes in their personnel."

Watson, a trial lawyer now with the Arnold Law Firm in Sacramento, agreed to work with Bakla pro bono due to the severity of the discrimination she alleges took place while she was employed by Easy Does It.

"I will say there was certain conduct by the employer which struck me as so far beyond the realm of being insensitive and that was stereotypical behavior that went on and on in nature with an employee who is transgender," he said. "One of the things that jumped out at me was when the employer presented her with the dress code policy implying she made the supervisor uncomfortable by not dressing like a man. If you want to think of a poster for what not to do, that's it. That actually shocked me."

Bakla told the B.A.R. that her experience at Easy Does It "has been a complete nightmare, scarred and traumatized me and done psychological damage to me ..." For a time she said she "was barely leaving my house so interviews and finding a supportive job seemed impossible."

But after starting on hormone replacement therapy in February and attending support groups for trans women, Bakla said she regained her confidence to search for work. She saw a listing for a job on Craigslist that stressed people of color and members of the LGBT community should apply.

The San Francisco-based agency, the Women's Donor Network, hired her in June and it's "turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me," said Bakla. "WDN empowers its members but also very much so its employees. I have never had a job in the Bay Area that has treated me like a decent human being."