A transgender bank teller claims her bosses at a Wells Fargo branch “blackballed” her due to her sexual identity and laughed while customers mocked her by saying that “she’d never be a real woman because she could never have kids,” a lawsuit claims.
Alexis Edwards, who according to court papers identifies an African-American, transgender woman and thus “is a member of several protected classes,” filed a discrimination lawsuit against the $176 billion banking giant in New Jersey federal court.
Edwards transitioned from a man to a woman in 2018 — two years after she was hired by the bank, according tocourt papers.
She alleges in court documents that management did nothing to stop her from being “abused and bullied” by customers who loudly proclaimed in front of others at the branch that “she’d never be a real woman because she could never have kids.”
“It hurt Ms. Edwards so much because managers would play silent all the time and she caught the same managers laughing at the customers’ hurtful statements,” according to the lawsuit filed by Edwards’ attorney.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson told The Post: “While we decline to comment on this lawsuit specifically, Wells Fargo has a clear policy that prohibits employee harassment of any kind.”
Edwards claims in court papers that she was denied a promotion to a personal banker position despite the fact that she received positive performance reviews in which she was praised for “continu[ing] to strive for excellence and accountability when servicing her customers.”
Edwards alleges that her superiors — branch manager Tiffany Davis and service manager Shaquanna Sheria — subjected her to “harsh treatment” by denigrating her in front of staff, according to court papers.
Davis was singled out in court papers for allegedly “spreading rumors about [Edwards’] sexual orientation,” according to the filings.
Davis is also alleged to have reprimanded Edwards, saying a customer complained “about you giving high attitude and being extra flamboyant with your nails,” according to court papers.
Edwards alleges that a colleague at the branch told her that Emily Stewart, another senior level executive at the branch, “informed [the colleague] that she doesn’t like gay people,” according to court documents.
The alleged “anti-transgender hostility” that Edwards experienced at the branch escalated to the point where she “had to go to the doctor to address heightened sugar levels caused by the nasty treatment…by her managers,” according to court papers.
Edwards was informed by her doctor that “her stress level was so high” that it caused her sugar level to sike to “600 plus or near coma level,” according to the federal court filing.
Edwards’ “diabetes made her body shut down and contributed to her vision problems and created other detrimental issues regarding her health,” according to court papers.
The lawsuit alleges that branch managers promoted Hispanic employees at the expense of African-American and other ethnic groups.
Edwards alleges that work conditions at the branch became “so intolerable” that she “gave notice of her intention to voluntarily resign on March 18, 2022,” according to court documents. The bank “terminated her employment” on March 2, it was alleged in the filing.
The Post has sought comment from Edwards’ attorney. Davis, Sheria, and Stewart were unavailable for comment.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
