Boise library worker, ACLU allege sex discrimination, retaliation by city
A library assistant for the city of Boise alleges sex discrimination in the workplace, culminating in an attempt by the city’s former library director to fire the assistant.
Jaclyn “Jax” Perez, who uses they/them pronouns and dresses androgynously, filed a complaint with the Idaho Human Rights Commission on March 31. The complaint, which was filed with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, alleges that Perez, 28, was retaliated against for opposing unlawful discrimination.
A representative of the Idaho Human Rights Commission told the Statesman that the group cannot comment on complaints. Karen Boe, spokeswoman for Mayor Lauren McLean, said the city cannot comment on pending matters regarding employees.
Ritchie Eppink, legal director for the ACLU of Idaho, said the ACLU took on the complaint because “this is a time in Idaho and across the nation when people who are queer, nonbinary and trans are under new forms of attack.”
“The city of Boise should be leading in efforts to affirm and empower them, not punishing them just for being who they are in public libraries,” Eppink said in an email. “The ACLU of Idaho is proud to represent Jax and help them seek justice.”
The complaint stems from two incidents last June. Here is what Perez, in the complaint and a video interview, says happened:
Drag queen, LGBTQ Pride Month
On June 5, Perez posted a reminder about an upcoming library teen program, called “Makeup is Such a Drag,” to Boise Bench Dwellers, a large local Facebook group, from Perez’s personal account. The event was to feature a local drag queen named Barbie who would talk about their own makeup transformation and about LGBTQ Pride Month, which takes place annually in June.
The program was scheduled to, and did, take place the next day at the Hillcrest library branch in the Hillcrest Shopping Center, where Perez has worked full-time since 2017.
Perez wanted to advertise the event on social media because the event had a limited audience. The library did not have a process for sharing events on social media at the time, “yet made it clear to program creation employees ... that attendance numbers at library events should be higher.”
“Not only did I have that kind of weighing on my shoulders, but the lack of guidance and needing to up the numbers and knowing that I would probably come against a difficulty with trying to up numbers when it comes to serving a very specific marginalized group, I posted it,” they said in the interview.
Members of the private Boise Bench Dwellers group commented under the post with what Perez called “transphobic comments.” Perez tagged one of the group administrators to ask if the group had rules about hate speech. Perez also went back and forth with a few commenters and called one a transphobe.
An administrator removed some people from the group.
Library gets complaint about Facebook post
Two days later, Perez was working at the branch when a patron approached Perez at the front desk and tossed LGBTQ pride buttons onto the desk, calling the buttons a “vice” and saying that he didn’t want his children exposed to them. Library staff had put out the pins in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month.
“I’m sorry that you feel that way,” Perez told the patron. “As a member of the LGBTQ community myself, I am sorry that you feel that way.”
The patron returned the next day and stared at Perez “in a sinister way for 10 to 15 minutes” before Perez went into a back room, fearing for their safety. The pins were later removed from the branch.
The library’s then-director, Kevin Booe, tried to fire Perez over the incident after the patron reached out to library administrators about it, sending an email to Perez’s supervisor saying the library team needed to find an “exit strategy” for Perez.
Perez receives written warning from supervisor
On June 24, Perez got a “notice of intent to discipline” dated June 21. Around July 16, Perez’s supervisor gave Perez a written warning referring to both the Facebook post and the interaction with the patron over the LGBTQ pride pins.
The warning letter said it was inappropriate to tell the patron that Perez is a member of the LGBTQ community and that Perez must “refrain from engaging in conduct that is the same or similar” immediately. Perez could be disciplined further or fired if they failed to abide by those rules, the letter said.
Perez submitted an internal Equal Employment Opportunity complaint with the city’s human resources department three day later. That department upheld the disciplinary action. Perez then appealed to the city attorney’s office, which also upheld it.
Perez says they must dress differently
According to the complaint, the city contends Perez’s Facebook post can be interpreted to express the opinions of the city without a disclaimer, and thus is prohibited by the city’s social media personal use policy.
When Perez made their identity as an LGBTQ person known to the patron, they violated the library’s policy of “providing neutral and courteous assistance,” the complaint said.
They continues to work for the library, although Perez, along with many other hourly city employees, is on what Boe, the mayor’s spokeswoman, called a new pay code for employees who have been asked to stay home while city buildings are closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The discrimination and retaliation continue, Perez alleges in the complaint, because Perez must continue to dress to conform to sex stereotypes.
Perez said they must suppress their identity and stay in the closet to protect their job, health insurance and well-being. Perez said they feel unsafe in the workplace and argues the workplace is hostile.
Perez said the discipline has taken a personal toll and has required counseling.
“I live paycheck to paycheck, so it’s an extremely stressful position to be in when it comes to wanting to do the work that I love for a community that I absolutely adore, and knowing that I am not seen as a wholly complete, complete human by the folks in leadership at the place that is supposed to be for everyone,” Perez said in an interview.
Perez voiced hope that the complaint will lead to a change in culture at the library, including more training on diversity and inclusion, biases, and power, privilege and oppression.
“In my opinion, actions very easily prove intent here,” Perez said. “This was wrong.”
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