President Donald Trump鈥檚 policies on transgender issues have prompted a federal agency to ask the U.S. District Court for the to dismiss its civil lawsuit against a rural New Athens pig farm accused of discriminating against a transgender employee.
Court documents show that the employee admitted during questioning that she had provided the farm, Sis-Bro Inc., with a fake Social Security number and was working illegally in the United States.
That information wasn鈥檛 mentioned in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission鈥檚 motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which it had filed in March 2024, when former President Joe Biden was still in office.
The Feb. 14 motion referred only to titled 鈥淒efending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government鈥� and related guidance from the federal Office of Personnel Management.
鈥淭he EEOC鈥檚 continued litigation of the claims in this action may be inconsistent with the Order and the OPM Guidance,鈥� the motion stated.
Senior Judge J. Paul Gilbert hasn鈥檛 issued a final ruling in the case.
by siblings Clare Schilling and Drew Schilling, according to feature stories by Benchmark Magazine and Farms.com. The farm employs about 15 people and specializes in weaning pigs, which has been part of the family business since 1955.
on behalf of Natasha Figueroa, formerly known as Rafael Santos Figueroa, 35, of Coulterville, who worked at the farm from 2009 to 2021. She originally presented as male but began transitioning to female in 2018, court documents show.
鈥淪is-Bro Inc. engaged in sex discrimination against (Figueroa) by subjecting her to sexual harassment, creating and maintaining a hostile work environment because of her sex and transgender status, and by constructively discharging her,鈥� the complaint stated.
The term 鈥渃onstructive discharge鈥� refers to an employee quitting a job due to working conditions considered intolerable.
Sis-Bro Inc. has denied the charges in the EEOC complaint and another civil lawsuit that Figueroa filed in August as an intervening plaintiff. All seven counts in the latter have been dismissed.
Clare Schilling declined comment this week. Drew Schilling couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment. Their Chicago-based attorney, Scott Cruz, didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.
When reached by phone on Monday, Figueroa told a BND reporter that she didn鈥檛 speak English. She鈥檚 of Salvadorean/Latina descent, court documents show. James Dore, her former private attorney in the intervening lawsuit, didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.
The Jan. 20 executive order is one of many actions the Trump Administration has taken to limit transgender rights. Among other things, it created a policy that the United States recognizes only two sexes, male and female.
鈥淭hese sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,鈥� the order states. 鈥淯nder my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality.鈥�
The EEOC complaint filed in March 2024 stated that Sis-Bro Inc. had violated the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Civil Rights Act of 1991 with the following alleged actions:
- Sis-Bro Inc.鈥檚 president addressed Figueroa as 鈥淩afael鈥� or 鈥淩afa鈥� instead of her chosen feminine name, 鈥淣atasha,鈥� told her she was 鈥渘ot a woman鈥� but rather 鈥渁 guy鈥� and criticized her for receiving 鈥済ender-affirming care,鈥� including breast implants.
- The farm permitted a coworker to subject Figueroa to 鈥渟evere or pervasive sexual harassment and to create and maintain a hostile work environment鈥� because of her sex and transgender status.
- That harassment included the coworker asking about her private parts, exposing his genitals to her, touching and attempting to touch her breasts and making other explicit sexual comments to her.
- Sis-Bro Inc. management was aware of the co-worker鈥檚 conduct because it occurred openly and at least some of it was reported, but the farm lacked an effective reporting mechanism for discrimination claims.
The EEOC complaint asked for the farm to provide Figueroa with back pay, future employment under nondiscriminatory conditions and/or front pay, as well as compensation for 鈥渆motional pain, suffering, inconveniences, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, and loss of civil rights.鈥�
During the course of the lawsuit, the EEOC requested Figueroa鈥檚 pay records. Sis-Bro responded that the records had 鈥渓imited availability鈥� because she had provided the farm with a fake Social Security number, that she gave the same number to another employer and, while working for that employer, used the alias Tania Alejandra Sauceda.
Sis-Bro Inc. also argued that Figueroa wasn鈥檛 eligible for back pay or front pay due to her status as an undocumented worker.
Figueroa鈥檚 intervening lawsuit listed seven counts, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, transgender status, race and national origin; sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, constructive discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery.
鈥淗er supervisors would repeatedly mock her Latina background and say things such as 鈥楲atinos are only good for working,鈥欌�� the complaint stated.
By mid-January, all seven counts in the intervening lawsuit had been dismissed, either voluntarily by Figueroa or involuntarily by Judge Gilbert, although he left open the possibility that she could revise and refile some counts.
Since leaving Sis-Bro Inc., Figueroa has been employed as a trailer factory assembly worker, a car dealership鈥檚 parts department supervisor, a hotel laundry employee and a nanny, according to court documents.
Trump campaigned against transgender rights while running for president. His executive order related to 鈥済ender ideology鈥� was based on the premise that it has particularly harmed women.
鈥淎cross the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women鈥檚 domestic abuse shelters to women鈥檚 workplace showers,鈥� the order stated.
鈥淭his is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.鈥�
Transgender rights advocates have condemned Trump鈥檚 actions, arguing that 鈥済ender dysphoria鈥� (a mismatch between a person鈥檚 biological sex and gender identity) is real, and that everyone has a right to control their own bodies and live free of discrimination.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the . Teri Maddox is a reporter for the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
