FRC: New York AG's Cross-Dressing Lawsuit Violates the Rights of Employers and Employees

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May 13, 2010, 03:17 ET

Lawsuit Illustrates How ENDA Threatens to Impose Cross-Dressing Policies on Employers

WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New York Daily News is reporting today that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has succeeded in his aim to force American Eagle Outfitters to rewrite its personnel policies and permit cross-dressing by its employees. The settlement also requires that the company train its staff on which "pronouns" to use when referring to workers and customers.

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Congress is currently considering the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" (ENDA), a bill which includes provisions forcing employers to do away with gender specific dress and grooming standards or face similar lawsuits that have been pursued against American Eagle Outfitters.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement about this settlement:

"Every American who believes in the right of employers to set dress and grooming standards for their employees should be alarmed by how this attorney general has used bullying tactics and litigation to impose cross-dressing policies on American Eagle Outfitters.

"What's most alarming is that President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress want to expand these bullying litigation tactics to all 50 states by enacting into federal law a cross-dressing protection act. If Congress approves President Obama's ENDA bill, employers in every state can expect to experience the same expensive, burdensome litigation that has been pursued against American Eagle Outfitters.

"ENDA, what might be more appropriately called 'The Cross-Dresser Protection Act,' takes the bedroom into the workplace and unfairly burdens employers to know about their employee's sexual lives. This major expansion of federal power over the workplace places an unnecessary burden on small businesses and local communities.

"Family Research Council and the families we represent are committed to defeating this bill which will trample on the Constitutional freedoms of religion and speech of both employers and employees."

This month FRC Action, the lobbying arm of Family Research Council, launched a new petition website, www.fightenda.org which has already gathered more than 50,000 signatures opposing the legislation. FRC has also released a new documentary entitled ENDA: The End of Religious Freedom in America? that exposes the truth about how ENDA threatens the religious liberty of business owners and employees.

SOURCE Family Research Council