Francesca Quaranta, Connecticut Cop, Says She Was Fired For Being Transgender
Francesca Quaranta, a Connecticut cop, said she was fired from her post at the Middletown Police Department because she is transgender.
Quaranta, 47, told The Associated Press on Monday that police supervisors made discriminatory remarks about her during her tenure and “conspired” to remove her from the position.
Quaranta, who was born Frank according to The New York Post, said police supervisors ordered her to change her hairstyle and remove her earrings. She said she filed a discrimination complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and may file a lawsuit.
“It was disgusting, unfair and mean,” said Quaranta. “They didn’t just take my job — they took my whole career.”
Quaranta, who has a 19-year-old son and is married to her wife of 22 years, said she was written up for her hair, nail polish and earrings. According to The New York Daily News, Quaranta said the ridicule began when she reported for duty as a woman and a lieutenant referred to her as “Frank” and “him”.
The AP reported her termination letter, drafted by Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew, listed the reasons for her firing as failing a fitness for duty evaluation, refusal for a second evaluation and failing to return to work despite the city’s repeated attempts.
Mayor Drew wrote a letter to Quaranta said city officials never forced her out of work and asked she return on “multiple occasions.”
"The most recent of these attempts came in the form of a [fitness for duty] evaluation … to ensure that you were ready to return to full duty as a police officer,” he wrote.
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