A cisgender woman Walmart employee who says she was verbally assaulted in the female restroom by a man who mistook her for a transgender woman was fired because she reported the incident to the wrong supervisor and created a security risk.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
Dani Davis, who is queer, took to social media on March 24 and wrote a post about what she said happened while she was at work. The incident occurred on March 14 at the Walmart in Lake City, Florida. She noted she was a nearly seven-year employee of Walmart and holds several other part-time jobs, including the “joy and privilege" of tutoring "special-needs children as requested,” describing herself as a hard worker who has never been in trouble.
She also describes herself as “really tall” at “just shy of 6'4," adding that "every inch is natural me.”
Around 8 p.m. on March 14, she wrote that she was alone in a stall in the women's restroom when she heard a man yelling.
“The voice was much louder than simply someone yelling in from the door. This man was fully IN the restroom, yelling something about” transgender women, Davis wrote.
Davis said the man yelled he was going to “beat" them and was going to “protect his wife/girlfriend from them” while his wife or girlfriend was pleading with him to stop and leave before he got into trouble.
Davis wrote she was scared and froze, not knowing if the man was going to physically attack her.
“I was the only one in there so it seemed pretty clear that he saw me enter the restroom and he assumed that I am trans because of my height,” Davis recalled. “It was terrifying and I wish no one else ever had an experience like that.”
The man eventually left, and Davis was able to leave the restroom and return to her workstation.
“My immediate supervisor came by and noticed that I was visibly shaken and emotional. After taking a few moments to calm myself down, I told her what had happened. I didn't go home since it wasn't long until my shift was done (10 p.m.),” Davis wrote. “Less than a week later, I was fired.”
The reason given for her termination was that she did not report the incident to a salaried management employee and, therefore, created a security risk.
“I took it to mean that I was the security risk because someone had mistaken me for trans,” Davis told the Washington Post.
Davis said she was devastated. Because of the anti-LGBTQ+ climate in Florida, she had been planning on leaving the state. But now, she doesn't know after losing the job.
She appealed the termination through Walmart’s internal review process but was denied. She filed for unemployment insurance but also took her story to Facebook, where it soon went viral.
Walmart appeared to acknowledge the error in a statement released to the media.
“We want our associates to feel safe and supported in their workplace, and we won’t tolerate bullying or threats of violence against our associates or customers,” Walmart spokesperson Joe Pennington said in a statement. “We’ve reviewed the situation and will be addressing it internally. We’ve also made multiple attempts to invite Ms. Davis to return to work, with back pay.”
Davis received a similar email from Walmart offering reinstatement with back pay, but she told the Post she is unsure if she will accept the offer.
“I think it would just be a hostile environment to return to,” she said.
