Case Study:
Ulane v. Eastern Airlines, Inc. 742 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir. 1984)
A male airline pilot underwent a gender change operation and became a female. After being terminated by the airline, he brought suit. The court upheld the termination, concluding that the matter was not protected by Title VII.
Wood, J.
Employee, Ulane, became a licensed pilot in 1964 serving in the U.S. Army from that time until 1968 with a record of combat missions in Viet Nam for which he received the Air Medal with eight clusters. Upon discharge in 1968, Ulane began flying for Eastern. With Eastern he progressed from Second to First Officer, and also served as a flight instructor, logging over 8,000 flight hours. Case6 Ulane was diagnosed a transgender in 1979. Transgenderism is a condition that exists when a physiologically normal person experiences discomfort or discontent about nature’s choice of his or her gender and prefers to be the other gender. This discomfort is generally accompanied by a desire to utilize hormonal, surgical, and civil procedures to allow the individual to live in his or her preferred gender role. The diagnosis is appropriate only if the discomfort has been continuous for at least two years, and is not due to a mental disorder such as schizophrenia. This is to be distinguished from homosexuals who are sexually attracted to persons of the same gender and transvestites, who are generally male heterosexuals who cross-dress, i.e., dress as females, for sexual arousal rather than social comfort. Both homosexuals and transvestites are content with the gender into which they were born. Ulane explains that although embodied as a male, from early childhood she felt like a female. She first sought psychiatric and medical assistance in 1968 while in the military. Later she began taking female hormones as part of her treatment, and eventually developed breasts from the hormones. In 1980 she underwent “gender reassignment surgery” and afterwards was issued a revised birth certificate indicating she was female and the FAA certified her for flight status as a female. Eastern was not aware of Ulane’s transgenderity, her hormone treatments, or her psychiatric counseling until she attempted to return to work after her reassignment surgery. Eastern knew Ulane only as one of its male pilots. The district court found Eastern discharged Ulane because she was a transsexual, and that Title VII does not prohibit discrimination on this basis. While we do not condone discrimination in any form, we are constrained to hold that Title VII does not protect transsexuals. AFFIRMED.
Q1. As the manager to whom Ulane reported after surgery, how would you have handled this?
Q2. Why do you think Eastern terminated Ulane?
Q3. What should be the significance of Ulane’s prior flight history and experience? In your view, how should it be analyzed with the other relevant factors here?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format.