Counselor says he was fired from Sheboygan County addiction center for wearing women's clothing

A Sheboygan County addiction treatment center advertises itself as "Providing hope and care without judgment," at least for clients, though perhaps not staff, according to a new lawsuit.

A former counselor at Pathways to a Better Life, LLC in Kiel says he was wrongly fired for wearing women's clothing as part of his adaptation to being gender non-binary.

James W. Lammers, a licensed professional counselor, says in his federal civil rights suit that his former employer violated both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and state fair employment law.

"Pathways is aware of Mr. Lammers' claims against it, which the EEOC has already investigated and dismissed," Elizabeth Odian, an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson in Milwaukee, said. "Pathways strongly denies Mr. Lammers’ claims and expects to obtain a similar ruling in federal court."

According to his suit:

Lammers, 38, had presented as male for more than 30 years. He married and had two children. But in 2015, he realized he "identified as genderqueer/gender non-binary."

Lammers would be broadly defined as transgender, but differs from transgender people who committed to transitioning — by appearance, name, pronoun preference and sometimes hormonal treatment and surgery — to their gender identity from the sex assigned at birth. 

"Genderqueer or gender non-binary individuals are people whose gender identity is not fixed as male or female — instead, there is an incongruence between the individual's experienced or expressed gender and the external sex characteristics with which they were born," the suit states.

In 2016, Lammers began wearing female clothing, shaving his body hair, changing his hairstyle and taking other steps to express his female identity.

However, when he was hired at Pathways in January 2017, he did not inform the center of his gender status. After he was employed, he began to wear women's clothing and present himself "in some stereotypically female ways" on the job.

When asked about it, Lammers says, he answered both staff and client questions candidly, but never in sexually explicit or inappropriate ways. He was aware that at least three co-workers complained that Lammers made them uncomfortable.

He was fired May 4, 2018, and was accused of being unethical and inappropriate. His lawsuit says if he had acted unethically, Pathways would have to file a report with the American Counseling Association, which the suit says was never done.

After his termination, the center solicited complaints about Lammers' job performance as a pretext to firing him for gender nonconforming behavior and expression, according to the suit.

The suit seeks back pay with interest, compensatory and punitive damages and reinstatement at a Pathways clinic, or front pay.

It also seeks an order that Pathways assures equal employment opportunities for workers with nontraditional gender identities.

His attorney, Summer Murshid, with Hawks Quindel of Milwaukee, said Lammers is now working part-time as a counselor with a different organization.