HARRISBURG – A Christian woman’s refusal to escort a “well-known political figure” who is a transgender woman around a female locker room got her written up at work, and she has gone to court to sue over it.
Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company told Jeriah Sellers to leave her religion at home, according to a lawsuit filed Oct. 21 in Pennsylvania federal court. Hershey operates MeltSpa, where Sellers is a concierge expected to show female customers the amenities of their locker room.
But when a biological male who identifies as a woman checked in on May 28, she expressed her unwillingness to a supervisor who performed task themselves.
“Jeriah is expected to assist all guests that visit MeltSpa, exhibiting professionalism and civility, and ensure her actions align with HE&R’s Core Values,” the company wrote in a personnel action memorandum.
It also suspended her for one day without pay. Sellers refused to sign the PAM and instead filed discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Sellers’ faith tells her God designed only two sexes and cites the Book of Genesis – “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Sellers says women as young as 13 years old could be changing in the locker room before their spa treatments and that she is not comfortable with showing a biological male around it.
“Also central to the plaintiff’s Christian faith is her calling to speak and act truthfully,” the complaint says.
“The locker rooms are designated on the sexual binary: ‘Men’s Locker Room’ and ‘Ladies Locker Room,’ and have no signage designating them based on the scores of gender identities, so Plaintiff would be deceiving women by bringing a male into the space where women believe their privacy will be protected from members of the opposite sex.”
The supervisor and MeltSpa manager apparently did not have a problem granting Sellers’ request for an accommodation, which was limited to guiding transgender women through the female locker room. Other staff routinely handle this task for all customers when the concierge is busy with another task.
But after the Human Resources department caught wind, trouble started. It pointed Sellers to a transgender policy that Sellers previously had been unaware of and informed Sellers that she violated it.
A meeting a week after the incident resulted in Sellers’ suspension.
“Despite Jeriah’s request for a reasonable accommodation based on her deeply held religious beliefs, and in spite of both her supervisor’s and manager’s recognition that she easily could be accommodated, Defendant disciplined Jeriah, placed her under threat of future discipline and instructed her to leave her religious beliefs at the door,” the suit says.
The lawsuit alleges violations to Sellers’ civil rights and was filed by Andrea Shaw of Carlisle. Her firm, the Law Office of Andrew H. Shaw, represents Christians in religious liberty cases.
