FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, May 17, 2012
CONTACT:
Brad Luna, Luna Media Group
Ohio Victim of Anti-LGBT Workplace Disc. Joins Freedomto Work on Capitol Hill to Advocate for Federal Protections
Cleveland, OH Resident & Member of Freedom to Work’s Speakers Bureau, Shari Hutchinson, in DC as Part of Organization’s “We Can’t Wait” Campaign
Washington, DC
–
Shari Hutchinson
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a Cleveland, OH resident who joined Freedom to Work'sSpeakers Bureau in 2011 after she secured a successful six-figure settlement from her sexualorientation bias case based on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
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joined Freedom to
Work in the nation‟s capital this week to share her story with lawmakers and senior policy
makers at the same time Congress is considering federal legislation and the ObamaAdministration is considering an executive order to ban workplace discrimination against LGBTAmericans. Ohio laws currently do not protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)employees, and Hutchinson would not have been able to bring any lawsuit for workplacediscrimination if she had worked for a private sector employer in Ohio.As Hutchinson joined Freedom to Work president, Tico Almeida, in DC this week as part of the
organization‟s “We Can‟t Wait” campaign, h
undreds of her fellow Ohioans lobbied for state-level anti-
LGBT discrimination laws as part of Equality Ohio‟s
Lobby Day yesterday.
“We were
thrilled to help Shari meet with senior policy makers in Washington DC this week as
part of our ongoing “We Can‟t Wait” campaign,” said Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to
Work.
“In both the nation‟s and Ohio‟s capital yester
day, hundreds of LGBT grassrootsadvocates, like Shari, were putting a human face to the issue of workplace discrimination andharassment. They are our best advocates for LGBT workplace fairness in America and it is theirreal-life, courageous struggles to win the freedom to work without harassment or discriminationthat will change hearts and minds. We look forward to flying in many more LGBT Americans
from around the country in the weeks and months to come as part of our „We Can‟t Wait‟campaign.”
“I traveled from Cleveland to our nation‟s capital to let our senators know that anti
-gayworkplace discrimination hurts real people and our family members in places like Ohio," said
Hutchinson. "That‟s why we need both a state law and a federal law to give LGBT Americans
the freedom to work without harassment or discrimination on the job. I met with staff for SenatorSherrod Brown and thanked him for co-sponsoring ENDA. I also met with staff for Senator RobPortman, and urged him to join with other Republican Senators who already support this
commonsense proposal for LGBT workplace fairness.”
Lawyer Elizabeth Rothenberg, an attorney at Avery Friedman & Associates in Cleveland, Ohio
who represented Hutchinson in her 2011 lawsuit,
said, “As the facts of Shari‟s case were
unearthed through depositions, it became clear that the high cost of anti-LGBT discriminationextended beyond Shari to the taxpayers. Not only did the County waste an incredible amount of
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Ohio Victim of Anti-LGBT Workplace Disc. Joins Freedom to Work on Capitol Hill to Advocate for Federal Protections
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