BY CJ GRIFFIN

SPECIAL TO NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

While in most instances an employee’s decision to come out of the closet in the workplace will not garner the nationwide media attention that NBA star Jason Collins received, the decision to come out is very personal and it is usually the workplace environment that will have a biggest impact on the employee’s decision to do so.

In many states, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees are very reluctant to come out in the workplace as the social environment is not LGBT-friendly. In 29 U.S. states it is perfectly legal to fire someone simply because they are gay. New Jersey, however, provides broad anti-discrimination protection for LGBT persons under its Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and employers must thus provide workplaces free of discrimination and harassment for sexual minorities.

When an employee comes out in the workplace, an employer needs to ensure the policies and procedures it already has in place for sexual or racial harassment are applied to the LGBT person. A legally sound anti-discrimination/harassment policy will incorporate “sexual orientation” and “gender identity and expression” as protected classes, as the LAD requires. Employers need to ensure that training for managers and employees includes LGBT-specific issues.

When an employee comes out as transgender, employers need to comply with privacy laws and not disclose any medical information (such as whether the person has undergone sexual reassignment surgery) to other employees. Employers must also ensure that personnel forms are properly updated, that managers and employees have received training on transgender issues, and that there are safe, appropriate restroom facilities and a proper dress code policy to accommodate the employee.

But employers should do more than simply comply with the law. Employers should go above and beyond what is legally required to ensure that LGBT employees feel not only protected from discrimination and harassment, but also embraced and placed on equal footing with heterosexual coworkers. This can be accomplished by forming a diversity committee or LGBT affinity group, sponsoring LGBT community events, or by adopting policies that address the inequalities LGBT persons face. For example, at the federal level, same-sex relationships are not recognized and thus any insurance coverage an employer offers to a gay employee’s spouse is taxed. Many employers “gross up” an LGBT person’s income so that he/she is paid extra money to offset the cost of this tax that heterosexual coworkers are not forced to pay.

Creating a welcoming workplace consists of these larger measures, but also small gestures such as making sure to include “partner” or “significant other” on invitations when the spouses of heterosexual employees are invited to company events, respecting a transgender person’s pronoun preference, and simply making sure to ask an LGBT person about his or her family.

LGBT persons must be fully integrated into the workplace and treated just as respectfully as any other employee. When being LGBT is seen as nothing out of the ordinary and something that the company embraces, workers will be happier, productivity will increase, and employers will be less likely to deal with costs of discrimination lawsuits or higher turnover rates.

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CJ Griffin is an employment and labor attorney at Pashman Stein, P.C. in Hackensack, NJ. She is the current Vice Chair of the LGBT Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. CJ can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .