Surprisingly in this time of Trump, the EEOC seems to be continuing to do its job.

An Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Hawthorne (NY) has been sued for allegedly discriminating against a transgender hostess.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stated that a hostess, identified only as Danielle, was repeatedly harassed by employees who made crude and disparaging remarks to her during the three weeks she worked there in 2015.

The general manager witnessed many of the incidents, according to the lawsuit filed on June 8 in federal court in White Plains, and the waitress formally reported the harassment. No corrective action was taken and Danielle was fired.

Last summer, the EEOC notified Apple-Metro Inc., owner of the Hawthorne restaurant, that there was reason to believe the company had violated the Civil Rights Act.

The EEOC stated it tried to resolve the issue informally but it was unable to reach an acceptable agreement with Apple-Metro.

Apple-Metro is based in Harrison and owns 34 Applebee’s in the New York metropolitan area, including Hudson Valley locations in Airmont, Mohegan Lake, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers.

The EEOC claimed that employees at the Hawthorne Applebee’s repeatedly gawked, laughed and pointed at Danielle. They made crude remarks about her genitalia. They refused to use her her legal name, calling her “Daniel,” even when she asked them to stop doing so.

I don’t know what the big deal is because you’re a tranny. You must be used to this by now.

--a coworker

In other words, transgender people deserve to be treated badly, I guess.

Danielle asked the general manger on three occasions to stop the harassment, but the manager took no corrective action.

I don’t know what you expect me to do, but if you think I am going to fire someone about this, I am not.

--general manager

Which, you know, was not quite true.

A co-worker reported the situation to an area director who also took no measures to stop the conduct, the lawsuit states.

The area director then met with the general manager four days later...and afterwards, Danielle was fired, as the EEOC puts it, "in retaliation for engaging in protected activity, namely opposing sex harassment."

The EEOC wants the court to order Apple-Metro to not engage in discriminatory practices on the basis of sex, to carry out policies and programs to eradicate unlawful practices and to reinstate Danielle and compensate her for emotional pain, humiliation and inconvenience.