Not a female business

For the first time in Russia, the court sided with a transgender person in a dispute about labor rights

In St. Petersburg, the court recognized the dismissal of an employee-transgender, restored it at work and awarded the plaintiff almost two million rubles of compensation.

Anastasia Vasilieva (the name changed at the request of the heroine) worked for more than ten years in the printing house printing. For all this time I had no complaints. However, she was satisfied with work while still a man. In July 2017, after the operation to change the floor, and then the name, Vasilieva presented the employer with a copy of the new passport and was immediately dismissed. According to Anastasia, the company's management removed it from work and proposed a choice: either “departure by agreement of the parties” (with the payment of solid compensation), or “dismissal under the article - due to the inability to perform labor relations”. Formally, the employer referred to the fact that the work of the printer is included in the list of 456 professions prohibited in Russia for women. Vasilieva says that the printer is not the most common specialty, she was not afraid of employment after dismissal, but she was offended by injustice. Anastasia went to court.

For almost two years, Vasilieva argued with the employer. The first process lost: in November 2017, the Frunze District Court of St. Petersburg refused a woman in a lawsuit. The basis was the same decree on heavy, dangerous and harmful professions in Russia since 2000, where female labor is not applicable. Then Anastasia turned for help to the lawyers of the LGBT group “Exit”. Together with them, she prepared and appealed to the City Court of St. Petersburg, which canceled the decision of the lower instance and sent the case for a new consideration. A medical examination was appointed. She showed that the plaintiff can perform the work of the printer, and there are no contraindications for this after the change of gender marker.

“The list of professions prohibited for women was formed to protect their reproductive function, however, in the case of Vasilyeva, its right to work was violated, which was confirmed by the examination,” Ksenia Mikhailova, lawyer of the LGBT group, explained in an interview with “new”. - According to the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the application of the list of heavy work and work with harmful or dangerous working conditions can only be associated with the protection of motherhood. But this does not apply to Vasilyeva.

On April 9, the same Frunze District Court of St. Petersburg recognized the dismissal of Anastasia Vasilyeva illegal, demanded to restore the woman at work and pay her compensation for a forced absenteeism in the amount of 1,850,000 rubles.

“In the situation, there is an intersectional discrimination of Anastasia as a transgender person and as a woman,” Max Olenichev, lawyer of the Strategic legal proceedings, representing the interests of Anastasia Vasilyeva in court, commented on the “new” program. - Two years of litigation led to an obvious conclusion: no one can fire people for replacing the gender marker in the documents. Now for such discriminatory behavior, the respondent company will pay a ruble. Unfortunately, today's court decision is not final and may be challenged, but we will take all measures so that it is not canceled. The case of Anastasia is the first in Russia, when a transgender person in court defends his labor rights.

Vasilyeva’s case can change the whole practice of law enforcement and lead to our ultimate goal - to highlight the problem of labor discrimination of both women and transgender people.

This precedent, in my opinion, will give strength and confidence to transgender people in protecting their rights in Russia.

Anastasia herself evaluates the meaning of her victory in court: “I want to prove that any person has the right to decide who to work, where and how.” Vasiliev does not want to return to his previous job. During the lawsuit, she found another. In a new place, they know nothing about her story, and the woman hopes that they never recognize.