Thumbing Their Nose (Part 1)

Hobby Lobby lost the bathroom skirmish but it looks like they are going to press the battle all the way to the Supreme Court again.

Judge: Yes, Hobby Lobby Discriminated Against Trans Woman
The Advocate
By Cleis Abeni
October 11, 2015

In a decision from May that was only made public this week, Administrative Law Judge William J. Borah ruled that Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights Act by refusing to allow a transgender female employee to use the women’s restroom at work.
[…]
While management did not fire Sommerville, and acknowledged her as a woman once she legally changed her state ID and birth certificate in 2010, her complaint alleges that by sanctioning her for using the women's bathroom, managers created a hostile environment. Moreover, Hobby Lobby management maintained that Sommerville had to first undergo specific gender-affirming surgeries before using the bathroom that corresponded with her gender identity.

So what is Hobby Lobby doing that the judge ruled against them? ThinkProgress reported that,

Unfortunately, five months later, Sommerville’s experience has not improved; she’s still not allowed to use the women’s restroom. “The reality is nothing has changed,” she told the Windy City Times. “It’s humiliating. I have had to restructure my life to watch how much I drink and eat before going to work in an effort to try to avoid using the restroom as much as possible but my fibromyalgia is aggravated with dehydration which just compounds the problem at work.”

Borah’s order was a recommended ruling, but the Illinois Human Rights Commission still has to affirm it before it becomes final. In the meantime, Sommerville otherwise loves her job. “Why should I quit?” she said. “I’m good at what I do. I love what I do. If I quit, I give a right to any other company to discriminate against their employee in the hopes that they will quit so they will be done with them.”

My guess is this this is going to go all the to the Supreme Court again with Hobby Lobby saying that allowing Ms. Sommerville to use the women’s bathroom is an infringement of their religious freedom.