Shake Shack must pay $20K to trans Bay Area employee repeatedly misgendered at work

Bob Egelko

Feb. 13, 2023Updated: Feb. 14, 2023 2:18 p.m.

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Shake Shack agreed to provide new training to managers and staff about discrimination based on gender identity following a lawsuit from a former employee in Oakland.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

A fast-food chain will pay $20,000 and provide anti-discrimination training to its workers to settle a suit by a former transgender employee in Oakland who said he was repeatedly misgendered by coworkers and got no help from management, a state agency announced Monday.

The man started work at a Shake Shack eatery in 2020 after training at the company’s San Francisco office, the state Civil Rights Department said in announcing the settlement. It said other employees, who presumably had received the same training, harassed him daily and regularly referred to him as female.

When he complained to supervisors, he said, they told him they could not do anything for him, and advised him instead to explain his gender to his coworkers and persuade them to treat him better. 

He left his job after a month, “frustrated by management’s failure to address his concerns,” the agency said.

After talks mediated by the state, the agency said Shake Shack agreed to provide new training to managers and staff about discrimination based on gender identity. The company also agreed to strengthen its policies against overall discrimination, harassment, retaliation and bullying, the agency said.

It agreed to report to the state any complaints it receives in the next year about discrimination or harassment based on sexual identity at Bay Area outlets, the agency said. Shake Shack will pay $20,000 to its former employee.

“California law prohibits intentional misgendering in the workplace,” said Kevin Kish, director of the Civil Rights Department. “Intentional misgendering and other forms of discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression can be stressful and traumatic.”

    Citing privacy concerns, he did not identify the former employee or say what he was doing now. Shake Shack, based in New York, has nine burger shops in the Bay Area. 

 “Creating a welcoming and fulfilling environment for all our employees and guests is critical,” the company said in a statement. “We are constantly taking steps to ensure our policies and culture reflect our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”