City of Lake Worth fires Susan Stanton

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Many of you may recall that Ms. Stanton is TG.

There isn't much detail in the Palm Beach Post article as to why she got fired. I live one town over from Lake Worth but don't follow the city's politics.

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There's just enough detail...

If you read carefully between the lines... things like: "Triolo cited a sense of distrust and anger among residents before voting to fire Stanton." and "Though then-Mayor Rene Varela criticized her for poor relations with residents, employees and other government leaders."

This indicates to me that, in the opinions of the mayor, vice mayor, and one other member of city council, people generally felt uncomfortable around her, or even disliked her strongly. This is strengthened by: "Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, who has disagreed with Stanton over a variety of issues for years, made the motion to fire her at the beginning of tonight's meeting." Also, very very important detail: "Maxwell was joined by Mayor Pam Triolo and Commissioner Andy Amoroso, both of whom were elected on Nov. 8, in the decision to fire Stanton."

Then you have comments like these: "professional staff she brought to city hall", "I find it really out of line to have this dropped on us and on the public without advance notice", "(firing her was) a reckless and irresponsible decision for the best interests of the city", "received a mostly favorable evaluation by the commission in April".

She was fired from her last city for deciding to transition, hired by Lake Worth shortly after, and then a new mayor takes over and they decide it's no longer acceptable to have a TG city manager.

It's all there... carefully couched in ways to prevent any attacks against the reporters from the parties involved, but there nonetheless.

Actually, considering the politics involved, I think Palm Beach Post did a pretty good job of presenting the information accurately, but not aggressively.

Abigail Drew.

Abigail Drew.

Possibly, but probably not.

Remember, they're citing distrust and such from the common citizenry... The politicians have been careful to cover their backsides, the reporters have been careful to cover theirs, the only person losing out is, once again, one of us.

She could probably try to file suit, heck, in a perfect world she ought to win it. But I find it unlikely that she'll be able to get discrimination charges to stick, and those are the only ones that make sense in the situation.

Also, does Florida even have anti-discrimination laws in the work place that specifically forbid discriminating against transgender? There are many states that still don't.

Abigail Drew.

Abigail Drew.

Besides

This sort of thing is common even when the person is not TG/TS. Not long ago, a small town here in Oklahoma hired a new city manager who promptly dismissed the entire fire dept, both paid and volunteers. He even went to the lengths of having each firefighter escorted into the locked-down fire station by police officers when they returned their city-owned gear. The new city manager was hired at the insistence of the newly-elected mayor. The new mayor and the paid fire chief had a personal dispute stretching back several years. You can't fight city hall no matter how big or small it is.

Karen J.

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I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Given the recent ...

Given the recent 11th Circuit decision on firing of a TS employee. You don't need transgender protection as it's implied by sexual protection in the constitution!

So - if suit were brought, lack of protection for being TS should not be a factor.

That said - another big reason for her to consider NOT bring suit is that it would make it more difficult to get another job as a city manager...

My 2 cents.
Anne

That was more than 2 cents worth.

First - I was unaware of that recent court ruling. This is good news.

As for reasons not to bring suit, getting another job as a city manager in another town is an excellent argument against such an action. Play the game right, and people will respect you, react poorly and generally, people will see that as justification against you.

It's just unfortunate when these sorts of things happen... Why can't people just learn to accept difference? We're ALL different from each other, and that's a good thing! If everyone were just like me, we'd have one very very screwed up world!

Abigail Drew.

Abigail Drew.