A former catering worker who identifies as neither female or male is suing Bon Appetit Management Co. for $518,000, claiming co-workers referred to the employee as a female though repeatedly being asked to stop.
Valeria Jones alleges in a lawsuit that co-workers repeatedly called Jones “miss,” “lady” and “little lady” despite explanations that Jones “was not a female or a male and that the term was unwelcome.”
Workers also directly said Jones looked like a woman and made female celebrity comparisons, the suit states.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says Jones preferred to be addressed by a general neutral pronoun. The suit doesn’t identify the term.
The suit seeks $18,682 in lost wages and benefits, and $500,000 for humiliation and suffering.