A Kentucky transgender woman and her husband suffered a year of continuous abuse at an Amazon shipping plant, ranging from verbal abuse to death threats, a new lawsuit says.
According to the suit, Allegra Schawe-Lane and husband Dane Lane were targeted with threats, slurs and sexual harassment by numerous colleagues at their Northern Kentucky facility for a year from October 2014.
Their complaints to supervisors fell on deaf ears and even resulted in their car's brakes being sabotaged, the suit claims.
'It felt like death row,' Dane Lane told WCPO. 'All the death threats were so serious.'
Suing: Dane Lane and Allegra Schawe-Lane are suing Amazon after they say they were subjected to death threats and abuse while working at the company's Hebron, Kentucky, plant
'Scary': The couple worked at the plant (pictured) from 2014-2015 and at one point had their brake lines cut, the suit claims. Schawe-Lane described it as 'scary' and 'like a bad dream'
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in Covington, Kentucky, alleges that the Hebron plant became a hellhole for the pair.
It said that Schawe-Lane was subjected to insults such as as 'bokep thailand shemale' and 'crossdresser' and that the couple received crude questions about their sex life.
When they tried to report the behavior, supervisors joined in the harassment and were instructed to 'watch them closely,' the court documents claim.
At one point, according to the suit, the brake line of their car was severed while parked in a secure lot at the workplace.
'I can't describe that feeling,' said Schawe-Lane. 'Beyond the pit of my stomach; it was so scary.'
She said she sought a job with Amazon in part because of the company's reputation as being LGBT-friendly.
'I thought we would be safe and accepted,' she explained. 'Instead it was like a bad dream. 'Every day, I'd wish it was Candid Camera and someone would pop out and say it was all a joke.'
Amazon told ABC News that it doesn't comment on pending cases.
Reputation: Amazon has a strong reputation for being LGBT-friendly, the suit says, but when the couple complained, supervisors not only failed to help but actively joined in the abuse
The suit remarks that the case against Amazon is particularly notable because the company has a record of strongly supporting gay and transgender rights.
The fund's executive director, Jillian Weiss, noted that Amazon has intervened in other court cases in support of transgender rights.
The company has also been lauded for producing the acclaimed television series 'Transparent,' in which Jeffrey Tambor's protagonist who transitions from a man to a woman.
'We have a company that touts its transgender friendliness,' Weiss said. 'Yet in Kentucky, when a transgender person comes and says, "Look, I'm being harassed," they get no help.'
The couple's case will be handled by Kentucky lawyers on behalf of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, a national transgender-rights organization.
A crowdfunding page has also been created to raise money to support their suit; as of Thursday morning it had raised $300.
Amazon's own corporate policy prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Celebrated: Amazon produces Transparent, a celebrated comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor (pictured) as a transwoman. The company's own policies prohibit transgender discrimination
Anxiety: Schawe-Lane said in July 2015 - when she was still working for Amazon, according to the lawsuit - that she was 'full of anxiety during the work week'
Two months before they resigned, the couple filed discrimination charges with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC declared earlier this year that evidence substantiated some of the couple's allegations and said they had grounds for a lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks both compensatory payment and punitive damages, with the amount to be determined by a jury.
It also seeks a court order requiring Amazon to implement workplace programs that would ensure respectful treatment of transgender employees.
Several other transgender-rights lawsuits have been litigated recently, with mixed results.
The Kentucky case alleges that various abuses suffered by the plaintiffs violated provisions of the US and Kentucky civil rights acts, state and federal labor law, and also the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
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According to Weiss, the ADA comes into play in this case because Schawe-Lane's status as a transgender woman was perceived her employers as a disability.
Aside from their experience at Amazon, they couple said they generally feel accepted in their community and have no desire to leave Kentucky.
However, they said they are both undergoing treatment related to the workplace traumas they experienced, and have been advised by their doctors that they are not ready to take new jobs.
Anxiety: Schawe-Lane suffered from anxiety as a result of her abuse, according to her Facebook page. The suit says that neither she nor her husband can go back to work yet
Excerpts from Schawe-Lane's public Facebook posts suggest that she was under stress in 2015.
On July 8, she wrote: 'I get so stressed and full of anxiety during the work week it's not funny and today I locked my keys in the car on lunch break at the gas station.'
'Thank god some one is at my house where I left my purse with my AAA card in it ahhhhhh this is tooooo much my mind and body need a break so badly.'
However, there are moments of positivity from her after leaving the company. In May this year, she wrote a post thanking 'two gentlemen'.
The said they 'have been amazingly supportive and made me feel SAFE, RESPECTED and like I BELONGED!!!'
Replying to an inquiry from her friend on that post, she added: 'Just a shared experience Dane and I suffered for over a year and it's taken a horrible toll on us both...'
She continued: '...we will never give up loving one another and we will continue to fight and keep one another safe and strong as we can.
'I just wanted to thank two people who surprised the bajesus out of me by being flat out lovely hugely helpful and honest. This city and this day and age you do not meet people like that EVER !'
Loving: Schawe-Lane says that she and her husband will 'never give up loving one another' and that they have generally found the community outside of work to be supportive
According to the suit, Allegra Schawe-Lane and husband Dane Lane were targeted with threats, slurs and sexual harassment by numerous colleagues at their Northern Kentucky facility for a year from October 2014.
Their complaints to supervisors fell on deaf ears and even resulted in their car's brakes being sabotaged, the suit claims.
'It felt like death row,' Dane Lane told WCPO. 'All the death threats were so serious.'
Suing: Dane Lane and Allegra Schawe-Lane are suing Amazon after they say they were subjected to death threats and abuse while working at the company's Hebron, Kentucky, plant
'Scary': The couple worked at the plant (pictured) from 2014-2015 and at one point had their brake lines cut, the suit claims. Schawe-Lane described it as 'scary' and 'like a bad dream'
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in Covington, Kentucky, alleges that the Hebron plant became a hellhole for the pair.
It said that Schawe-Lane was subjected to insults such as as 'bokep thailand shemale' and 'crossdresser' and that the couple received crude questions about their sex life.
When they tried to report the behavior, supervisors joined in the harassment and were instructed to 'watch them closely,' the court documents claim.
At one point, according to the suit, the brake line of their car was severed while parked in a secure lot at the workplace.
'I can't describe that feeling,' said Schawe-Lane. 'Beyond the pit of my stomach; it was so scary.'
She said she sought a job with Amazon in part because of the company's reputation as being LGBT-friendly.
'I thought we would be safe and accepted,' she explained. 'Instead it was like a bad dream. 'Every day, I'd wish it was Candid Camera and someone would pop out and say it was all a joke.'
Amazon told ABC News that it doesn't comment on pending cases.
Reputation: Amazon has a strong reputation for being LGBT-friendly, the suit says, but when the couple complained, supervisors not only failed to help but actively joined in the abuse
The suit remarks that the case against Amazon is particularly notable because the company has a record of strongly supporting gay and transgender rights.
The fund's executive director, Jillian Weiss, noted that Amazon has intervened in other court cases in support of transgender rights.
The company has also been lauded for producing the acclaimed television series 'Transparent,' in which Jeffrey Tambor's protagonist who transitions from a man to a woman.
'We have a company that touts its transgender friendliness,' Weiss said. 'Yet in Kentucky, when a transgender person comes and says, "Look, I'm being harassed," they get no help.'
The couple's case will be handled by Kentucky lawyers on behalf of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, a national transgender-rights organization.
A crowdfunding page has also been created to raise money to support their suit; as of Thursday morning it had raised $300.
Amazon's own corporate policy prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Celebrated: Amazon produces Transparent, a celebrated comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor (pictured) as a transwoman. The company's own policies prohibit transgender discrimination
Anxiety: Schawe-Lane said in July 2015 - when she was still working for Amazon, according to the lawsuit - that she was 'full of anxiety during the work week'
Two months before they resigned, the couple filed discrimination charges with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC declared earlier this year that evidence substantiated some of the couple's allegations and said they had grounds for a lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks both compensatory payment and punitive damages, with the amount to be determined by a jury.
It also seeks a court order requiring Amazon to implement workplace programs that would ensure respectful treatment of transgender employees.
Several other transgender-rights lawsuits have been litigated recently, with mixed results.
The Kentucky case alleges that various abuses suffered by the plaintiffs violated provisions of the US and Kentucky civil rights acts, state and federal labor law, and also the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
Five active-duty transgender service members sue Trump Transparent's Jeffrey Tambor honored with Hollywood star Mark Zuckerberg trumps Amazon's Jeff Bezos Meet the first US boxer to fight as a woman and as a man
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32 shares
According to Weiss, the ADA comes into play in this case because Schawe-Lane's status as a transgender woman was perceived her employers as a disability.
Aside from their experience at Amazon, they couple said they generally feel accepted in their community and have no desire to leave Kentucky.
However, they said they are both undergoing treatment related to the workplace traumas they experienced, and have been advised by their doctors that they are not ready to take new jobs.
Anxiety: Schawe-Lane suffered from anxiety as a result of her abuse, according to her Facebook page. The suit says that neither she nor her husband can go back to work yet
Excerpts from Schawe-Lane's public Facebook posts suggest that she was under stress in 2015.
On July 8, she wrote: 'I get so stressed and full of anxiety during the work week it's not funny and today I locked my keys in the car on lunch break at the gas station.'
'Thank god some one is at my house where I left my purse with my AAA card in it ahhhhhh this is tooooo much my mind and body need a break so badly.'
However, there are moments of positivity from her after leaving the company. In May this year, she wrote a post thanking 'two gentlemen'.
The said they 'have been amazingly supportive and made me feel SAFE, RESPECTED and like I BELONGED!!!'
Replying to an inquiry from her friend on that post, she added: 'Just a shared experience Dane and I suffered for over a year and it's taken a horrible toll on us both...'
She continued: '...we will never give up loving one another and we will continue to fight and keep one another safe and strong as we can.
'I just wanted to thank two people who surprised the bajesus out of me by being flat out lovely hugely helpful and honest. This city and this day and age you do not meet people like that EVER !'
Loving: Schawe-Lane says that she and her husband will 'never give up loving one another' and that they have generally found the community outside of work to be supportive
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