Transgender chef can sue Tarrytown restaurant, judge rules
WHITE PLAINS — Eric Buffong said that ever since he was a 7-year-old girl named Erica, he knew deep down inside that he was really a man.
Now the 27-year-old chef has wound up in the middle of a court battle that took on statewide significance last week, when a judge ruled that his status as a transgender person qualified him for protection under the New York State Human Rights Law in a lawsuit against the upscale Tarrytown restaurant where he formerly worked.
Buffong is suing the parent company of Equus, a five-star restaurant in The Castle on the Hudson in Tarrytown, claiming he was mistreated and fired from his job as a line chef last year after a co-worker brought in a copy of his 1998 White Plains High School yearbook, in which he appears in his senior portrait as Erica Buffong.
Lawyers for the restaurant sought to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that Buffong had no standing to sue under New York law.
State Supreme Court Justice Joan Lefkowitz, expanding on previous rulings, held that even though the state’s human rights law does not specifically mention transgender people, they are nonetheless entitled to protection under it.
Buffong began working at the restaurant, which serves $230 Beluga caviar appetizers, in May 2004.
He said that about eight months later, after a co-worker brought in the yearbook and showed it to the other employees, he became the target of jokes and ultimately constant harassment.
He said his name on the work schedule was changed from “Eric” to “Erica,” jokes were made about his anatomy and lifestyle, and he was routinely asked inappropriate questions.
“Prior to this, I had never had any problems with anybody about who I am,” Buffong said.
Buffong said that when he complained to the executive chef, David Haviland, he was told: “That’s not my problem. Just deal with it.”
Shortly afterward, his work schedule was reduced from five days to four, then shifted from nights to mornings, before he was fired in May 2005, Buffong said. more…
