Steve Stanton Sacked (Again) Council Upholds Previous Vote, Lawsuit Possible
Officials in Largo, Florida again voted to dismiss city manager Steve Stanton. Stanton shot to national fame after the St. Petersburg Times revealed the fourteen year city council veteran planned to become a woman.Following the revelation, Stanton’s peers voted 5-2 to terminate his tenure. Outraged by the blatant discrimination, Stanton appealed. As part of the process, hundreds gathered Friday to either defend or denounce Stanton’s decision, including Stanton himself. He told the commission:
What I am asking for is for you to give me a chance to show you I can do the job. Dealing with Susan will be no different than dealing with Steve. Look past the gender issue and judge me as the same person I was four weeks ago.
Apparently they couldn’t, because not one of the council’s members altered their vote. Stanton’s detractors cited “trust” as an issue. Andy Guyette insisted: “Without trust, there’s no longer a foundation for any relationship.”Stanton has not yet said whether he will file a wrongful discrimination suit against the city, but he did tell reporters that he’s distraught over the decision:
…It shows the difficulty of evaluating this type of situation. I was optimistic, but realistic that it would be hard to slow down the train. It is closure. And it was an opportunity to inform and educate people. They listened to information they did not have the first time.
Too bad it didn’t stick.Like clockwork, HRC, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, Florida Equality and a slew of other organizations have issued a joint statement admonishing the council’s decision. We too must wag a finger. The fact that these men and women supported Stanton just four weeks ago and that something as arbitrary as gender has dismantled his career gives new meaning to “shameful”. Not to mention “shitty”.
As mentioned aboved, it’s unclear whether or not Stanton will, in fact, sue Largo for what seems to be a discriminatory firing. If he does, in fact, seek punitive damages, Stanton may have a bit of trouble proving his case. City commissioner Gay Gentry – a woman who has a reputation for defending gay and lesbian rights – tells reporters that she voted for Stanton’s ouster because his actions contradict his professional ideology. St. Petersberg Times reports:
But Gentry insisted her decision didn’t have anything to do with transgenderism. She could support his “hard-nosed, my-way-or-the-highway” leadership style “provided he held himself to the same standards,” she said.Gentry said she had concerns about his dealings with employees before. She mentioned them to him, but she didn’t push him to change. She didn’t want to micromanage him.
But once Stanton announced his intentions – and requested the City Commission grant him the time to convince city employees he could do his job as a woman – Gentry said she felt it was time to scrutinize personnel issues more closely. And she called former and current employees.
They told her that he was quick to fire, he didn’t accept them for what they were, and he wasn’t always understanding when they had medical issues of their own, she said. “He had not done for them what he wanted them to do for him,” she said.
Are we the only people who are confused by this logic? No? Okay, good…
Source: queerty.com