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dolariI woke up, got dressed and went to OSHA. It took a while to find the place, then find a meter, then find quarters for the meter. But after over-paying the meter by 53 minutes, I found where I needed to go.
After walking into the Federal Building here in Austin, I was met by several aging marshals who XRayed my purse and me. No funny looks, but a definite "We're old men talking about the war" feel to them.
Pictures of George Dubya and Dick Cheney were everywhere...and let me say off hand that the pics of George look like high school pics. That fake overdone smile, the squinty eyes. Clinton's pics looked classy...but George's' almost looks like a celebrity head shot. Cheney's reminded me of a sleazy real estate agent or car sales man. to be fair, though, Gore looked like Woody from Toy Story.
I walked into the OSHA office and was met by an older lady who took my complaint. I explained it all out to her as I remembered it from my Sequence of Events notes, and gave her the web site I posted the SOE up (as well as the Schwenk vs. Hartman court case). She seemed rather confused as to why I went to OSHA to complain about this, and so I kinda nudged her in the direction of "Using the Men's Room is dangerous in a skirt." She then told me that she might not help me as I need to prove I'm in a protected "class." I brought up the court decision again, claiming that I can be considered a woman, since I'm involved in transition. She was still a bit confused over it all,but said she'd do her best to see if I had an OSHA case. She disappeared for a short while.
I have to admit, at the time she disappeared, I wasn't very hopeful about this case at all. But the important thing here was to file, win or lose.
When she returned she told me that if I could prove myself in a protected class (aka, prove I could be considered a woman). I could possibly file an EEOC case. She called the local EEOC office, which was in San Antonio and gave me their number. I should call it ASAP as it takes them a LONG time to get back to me. However, she said the San Antonio branch of EEOC often refers people to the Human Rights Commission in Austin for more info. That was one block over. Stop by with them to see if they could help me as well.
Basically, I got what I came for: OSHA told me to contact the EEOC. I began planning a trip to San Antonio for SAT-SUN-MON.
However, I decided to go ahead and see the Human Rights Commission office and see what they could do. Lo and behold, when I got there they told me they WERE the EEOC office for Austin, so I went ahead and filed a complaint there, too...with the wonderful words "OSHA SENT ME HERE."
Under the part marked "discrimination" I chose SEX and also added, under other GENDER. It was late in the day, so they told me to file the complaint today, and make an appointment with them on Monday.
It looks like so far, so good.
I went into the Adecco offices where I surrendered my Harte Hanks badge. I also told them I appreciated everything Adecco did for me in trying to keep me on the job. However, I told them I felt discriminated against by Harte Hanks. They simply asked me if I'd told my Adecco rep how I felt, and I said yes. I came home to a fajita dinner.
One thing I did yesterday when I decided I was going to file the OSHA complaint, I did a tarot card reading. It was generally optimistic (and scarily accurate), but what really shored me up was the "near future" card. The World. Basically getting everything that I want out of the situation, in the short term (Long term final outcome was still good, but in that "Not quite what you expect" way).
All in all, the important thing was to file. Win or lose, I did what was needed.
After walking into the Federal Building here in Austin, I was met by several aging marshals who XRayed my purse and me. No funny looks, but a definite "We're old men talking about the war" feel to them.
Pictures of George Dubya and Dick Cheney were everywhere...and let me say off hand that the pics of George look like high school pics. That fake overdone smile, the squinty eyes. Clinton's pics looked classy...but George's' almost looks like a celebrity head shot. Cheney's reminded me of a sleazy real estate agent or car sales man. to be fair, though, Gore looked like Woody from Toy Story.
I walked into the OSHA office and was met by an older lady who took my complaint. I explained it all out to her as I remembered it from my Sequence of Events notes, and gave her the web site I posted the SOE up (as well as the Schwenk vs. Hartman court case). She seemed rather confused as to why I went to OSHA to complain about this, and so I kinda nudged her in the direction of "Using the Men's Room is dangerous in a skirt." She then told me that she might not help me as I need to prove I'm in a protected "class." I brought up the court decision again, claiming that I can be considered a woman, since I'm involved in transition. She was still a bit confused over it all,but said she'd do her best to see if I had an OSHA case. She disappeared for a short while.
I have to admit, at the time she disappeared, I wasn't very hopeful about this case at all. But the important thing here was to file, win or lose.
When she returned she told me that if I could prove myself in a protected class (aka, prove I could be considered a woman). I could possibly file an EEOC case. She called the local EEOC office, which was in San Antonio and gave me their number. I should call it ASAP as it takes them a LONG time to get back to me. However, she said the San Antonio branch of EEOC often refers people to the Human Rights Commission in Austin for more info. That was one block over. Stop by with them to see if they could help me as well.
Basically, I got what I came for: OSHA told me to contact the EEOC. I began planning a trip to San Antonio for SAT-SUN-MON.
However, I decided to go ahead and see the Human Rights Commission office and see what they could do. Lo and behold, when I got there they told me they WERE the EEOC office for Austin, so I went ahead and filed a complaint there, too...with the wonderful words "OSHA SENT ME HERE."
Under the part marked "discrimination" I chose SEX and also added, under other GENDER. It was late in the day, so they told me to file the complaint today, and make an appointment with them on Monday.
It looks like so far, so good.
I went into the Adecco offices where I surrendered my Harte Hanks badge. I also told them I appreciated everything Adecco did for me in trying to keep me on the job. However, I told them I felt discriminated against by Harte Hanks. They simply asked me if I'd told my Adecco rep how I felt, and I said yes. I came home to a fajita dinner.
One thing I did yesterday when I decided I was going to file the OSHA complaint, I did a tarot card reading. It was generally optimistic (and scarily accurate), but what really shored me up was the "near future" card. The World. Basically getting everything that I want out of the situation, in the short term (Long term final outcome was still good, but in that "Not quite what you expect" way).
All in all, the important thing was to file. Win or lose, I did what was needed.
