Outed at work, lost job

[Desirae]

Just to fill in a few more details about me. Some time back, I inadvertently outed myself at work. No, I didn't dress or underdress at work or anything like that. What happened was that I "made up" a female persona of myself and posted it on Yahoo360 (do you remember Yahoo360)? I was dressed, but I chopped my head off (the picture haha) and used one of those online makeover sites to "do my face". Once I did that I "reattached" the "made over" face back on my photo and used that as my avatar on Yahoo360. I guess you know where this is going.

Someone at work saw my Yahoo360 page. I guess I didn't do a good enough job fixing my face. It's hard to make an ugly mug beautiful, anyway. I endured about 3 weeks of ridicule and snide comments from everyone and then was "laid off".

Has anyone else ever outed themselves accidentally and suffered repercussions because of it? I guess the answer is probably yes.

[Alice B]

If you can prove that the reason you were laid off was because of your Yahoo360post, then you have a strong case for a discrimination law suit. But you will need to talk to a lawyer and be willing to face possible public discloser

[Loni]

not happened to me....yet
but the place i work at, nobody would understand, the company and the union would only go as far as the law requires of them, but i would have to quit and try to find other work.

[Desirae]

If you can prove that the reason you were laid off was because of your Yahoo360post, then you have a strong case for a discrimination law suit. But you will need to talk to a lawyer and be willing to face possible public discloser

Hi Alice. First, I would never be able to prove that, I don't think, anyway. Second, it happened over 5 years ago. It's water under the bridge now. To be honest with you, though, I probably would have had to quit regardless. I mean I was getting the snide little comments from everyone, all day, every day, for the 3 weeks after being discovered. It was at the point that I didn't even want to go in there anymore. Its a big company, too. Fortune 50, I think. Guess things aren't as progressive as some make them out to be. It was just miserable there after that.

[Amy R Lynn]

I'm so sorry to hear about this! How awful! That was not a very accepting company at all. I agree that if you can prove that was why you were laid off, you have a clear case for discrimination.

I was looking through the HRC.org website and found an interesting tool that lets you see how fortune 500 companies stack up on an equality index. It is pretty interesting to read what policies some corporations have. It does seem that there are more and more businesses that are in support of being accepting of LGBT workers. The company that I work for is very accepting and has policies in place that would protect you from ridicule like this. The people that were poking fun at you would have been in serious trouble with HR, and possibly terminated for harassment. I hope that you find another job soon, and don't let this incident rattle you!

Here is a link to the HRC Corporate Equality Index:
http://www.hrc.org/corporate-equality-index/#.Um3KcN_D88E

[sandra-leigh]

Did your work have seasonal flows? Was anyone else laid off at the same time? Have job postings gone up for someone to replace you?

[giuseppina]

Sorry to hear of this, Desirae. This is one of the reasons I won`t post pictures on the net, regardless of presentation.

[Desirae]

I hope that NEVER happens to you or anyone else for that matter. I wouldn't wish it on even my worst enemy.

I think I got set up. The long story short is that a a few coworkers were on the web looking at something. Me and a couple others walked up just to see what was going on. We all BSed and then the guy whose computer it was went into some site about crossdressers or something related to it. Everyone was looking at pictures and all that. I must have seen something about Yahoo360 because I didn't even know what it was before that. I did what I said I did with the picture and everything. The VERY NEXT day after posting the picture I made up, coworkers started making snide little comments. I remember one comment was, "you should just go ahead and transition". It's just funny that it was discovered so quickly after I posted it. Obviously, someone was looking for it. I don't know. Maybe someone was looking for it. Maybe someone just accidentally discovered it. It seems like a really big coincidence. I know at the time I didn't have a girlfriend and no one there ever saw me with a girl. But, that's way different than suspecting someone is a CD. I don't exude that. At least I don't think I do. I don't act feminine. I'm pretty manly for the most part. I think that's some of the reason I have never taken my CDing any further. I just don't see me presenting as a very good female (in my eyes). I just don't know where they'd get that idea. So, maybe it is all coincidence. Although, a friend of mine when I was in high school did tell me I had "bitch eyes". I don't know what that means.

[NathalieX66]

Sorry Desirae, that's awful.
I pretty much look like person you see on the avatar pic you see on the left, minus the dress and the flower.
Dressing en drab is a fact and a way of life for many of us.

but to be honest, I think that when someone outs someone, plainly that's just dirty pool. I don't like it.

[Desirae]

Yeah, I learned my lesson (maybe). Maybe if I did a better job of disguising myself someday. They say that anything posted NEVER goes away. I have a LOT of admiration for the girls who have come out and live so freely.


Did your work have seasonal flows? Was anyone else laid off at the same time? Have job postings gone up for someone to replace you?

Hi Sandra-leigh. It was 5 years ago. I'm 100% sure someone has taken over my job.

[Eryn]

...I was getting the snide little comments from everyone, all day, every day, for the 3 weeks after being discovered....

That certainly doesn't sound like a professional or businesslike organization if it condones such juvenile behavior. Where was management though this time?

[Desirae]

Hi Amy. It's been way too long. 5 years ago. I wasn't trying to give the impression that this is something that just happened, but I can see how it was taken like that. I apologize for giving that impression. But, it is something that happened. And it was a big company. Like I said I think they are a Fortune 50 company (NOT 500, but 50). Even if HR got involved, things still would have been bad. I wasn't outed because I wanted to be. It wasn't from my doing. I agree with Nathalie. Forcing someone out is not the way to go. People need to come out under their own conditions and when the time is right for them.

[Michelle789]

I'm really sorry that happened. Hopefully you found a better job.

One thing I'm confused about is how did your co-workers discover your 360 profile? I mean it has your female persona, I'd assume you wouldn't have friended your co-workers. Was there some Yahoo violation of privacy, or somehow was your female persona account linked to your male profile account?

[Beverley Sims]

One thing to remember is that emails that go through your workplace can be monitored by the employer and considered misuse of the facility.
I think you would find PM's addressed to this site can be monitored also.

[Desirae]

That certainly doesn't sound like a professional or businesslike organization if it condones such juvenile behavior. Where was management though this time?

Hi Eryn. Management is the one who called me in his office and told me I was let go. Actually, I remember "management" making a comment or two to me, also. You know, those little passing type comments. You know everyone says that things are "better" for gays, lesbians, bis, etc. Well, things may be better for some. I'm not arguing that. But, I think for the vast majority or transgender people, things aren't much better. Maybe for a few. I was watching GayUSA last night on FreeSpeechTV, and there was a segment on some Republican Senator (I think he was a state senator). He made some statement to somebody that (and I'm paraphrasing) he has no problem with gays or lesbians, but he can't stand "trannies". I think he said that they "make him sick" or we "are sick" or something like that. To me that pretty much sums up "most" people's views. I think most people put us at the bottom of the barrel. Worse than blacks. Worse than gays. Worse than lesbians. Heck, maybe they think we're even worse than child molesters. This kind of hate is why so many of us don't come out. Just my two cents. I think there's a long way to go. Another thing I think is that many gays and lesbians "regret" having us grouped together with them. I have read in some forums (names escape me right now) that many (some) gays and lesbians feel that transgender people are a hindrance to their cause and are slowing the claiming of their rights down.

BTW, Eryn, this is a great forum. I wish I would have joined up years ago. I do remember "lurking here a lot of years ago. But, for whatever reason, I just didn't join then. Then I discovered it again the other day again and decided to finally register.


One thing to remember is that emails that go through your workplace can be monitored by the employer and considered misuse of the facility.
I think you would find PM's addressed to this site can be monitored also.

Hi Beverly. I didn't do any of the Yahoo360 postings on my work computer. I did everything from home. I would never do any of MY private life things from a work computer. I know that the guy in the office at work who was originally looking at "crossdressing stuff" did use a work computer, but I didn't.

[RenneB]

Welcome to the world of 'at-will/no-cause'. I've said this many a time that unless you are a in a very accepting company and work with your hr department, or have an iron clad union contract, you really need to watch your step... I've been "resigned" before (not related to CDng) for doing what I thought was the right thing, turned out it cheesed off someone upstairs and I was gone.

Still I'd try to find an attorney for your case. You might also want to file a complaint with the EEOC.... sorry this happened...

Renne.....

[Desirae]

I'm really sorry that happened. Hopefully you found a better job.

One thing I'm confused about is how did your co-workers discover your 360 profile? I mean it has your female persona, I'd assume you wouldn't have friended your co-workers. Was there some Yahoo violation of privacy, or somehow was your female persona account linked to your male profile account?

Hi Michelle. No, none of the above. Yes, it was a female persona I created. I didn't have a male persona on Yahoo360. And no, I wouldn't have friended my coworkers. It was the day after I opened my profile. There wasn't time for me to have friended anyone. The only thing I can think of is that someone at work was "monitoring" for "new" Yahoo360 profiles in my area. I think there was a function for doing that. I'm sure I put my city and state in my profile. Then someone could have just searched by locality and any new ones would have come up. For all I know, the guy who was surfing the crossdressing sites when all of us were gathered at his computer is in to it. Maybe not a CD himself, but just into it. Then he looked the next day again, and saw mine.

Nope, never did find another job.

[Michelle789]

How did he figure out the profile was you? Did you mention the name of the company, your male name, or anything that could've indicated it is you. Did he see similarities between your male face and your female pic?

Also, do you think some people, who are not CDs, go to CD websites just to look for potential CDs, like to see if anyone they find on the CD website is their co-worker. What you're telling me sounds really scary. It already sounds like a Halloween ghost story.

"the guy who was surfing the crossdressing sites when all of us were gathered at his computer is in to it. Maybe not a CD himself, but just into it."

Was this the same guy who was responsible for discovering you? Did he engage in making harassing comments towards you?

[Karren H]

that sucks.... i know of at least one member who went through something similar.... I'll bet they are counting on you not wanting to out yourself to the world.....

[Desirae]

How did he figure out the profile was you? Did you mention the name of the company, your male name, or anything that could've indicated it is you. Did he see similarities between your male face and your female pic?

Also, do you think some people, who are not CDs, go to CD websites just to look for potential CDs, like to see if anyone they find on the CD website is their co-worker. What you're telling me sounds really scary. It already sounds like a Halloween ghost story.

"the guy who was surfing the crossdressing sites when all of us were gathered at his computer is in to it. Maybe not a CD himself, but just into it."

Was this the same guy who was responsible for discovering you? Did he engage in making harassing comments towards you?

I assume he (and they) saw my face in the photo I posted as my avatar, even with the online makeover done to it (wig, makeup, etc) and still recognized me.

As to your second question, I don't know. Being a CD, even I don't go around in CD forums looking for people I might know. It seems inconceivable that someone would just happen to peruse CD sites looking for coworkers. I mean not unless someone had an inkling of an idea that someone "may" be CD. But, I never gave off that vibe to anyone that I know of. I know I never said anything to anyone that would have made someone think I was CD. I never went to work underdressed and inadvertently let my slip show, so to speak. All I know is that the whole situation started when bunch of us were gathered around some guys computer and he browsed to some site. Maybe it was Yahoo360. Maybe that's where I got the idea of opening my own profile. But, whatever site it was, it was about crossdressing or about a crossdresser or corssdressers in general. The next thing I know is that I made myself an avatar through artificial means. I mean my picture wasn't even real. I got dressed without makeup or wig, took a picture, and uploaded it onto my computer. I used Photoshop to "cut" my head off of it and then I found an online makeover site and proceeded to makeover my face with the tools on that website. I then reattached the "new" face to my picture and, viola, I had my femme persona, which I used as my avatar on Yahoo360. Maybe that "idea" that I was CD or gay just popped into someone's head there because I am single. If someone were married, it might never pop into anyone's head. I don't know. I don't know why that would come into somebody's head. I certainly don't look female. I wish I did, but I don't. And my mannerisms aren't female. Maybe certain people are more likely to search for things like that. Yes, it is scary.

I don't know if the same guy discovered me. For some reason, I got that impression. Since its been so long, I can't remember why I had that impression then. Yes, he made disparaging comments also.

Has anyone on this forum been inadvertently discovered ON THIS FORUM by someone at work or by a family member? It's not inconceivable that that could happen, right? Are there any safeguards in place to try and make sure that doesn't happen?

[Michelle789]

At that time, did you have a regular Yahoo account (not 360) in your male name? I'm not sure if this was possible 5 years ago, but today it's possible to create a female account under the same provider (Yahoo, Google) as you have a male account, and if you put in the recovery email address, or possibly by testing your IP address when you create the site, that Yahoo or Google creates some sort of link without your permission. I created a gmail account with my female name, and when I went into Google+, I saw under friend recommendations my male name, and a bunch of people I used to work with. Luckily, I didn't post a photo on my female account, and used only a last initial instead of a last name, and it was amongst a list of over 100 names. There is definitely something funky going on, to me it sounds like Yahoo may have violated your privacy. If the technology was implemented in 2008, I pin Yahoo as the perpetrator here.

This should also serve as a warning to everyone who creates online accounts, to be very careful not to link it to any male accounts in any way. I would even say that if my male email account is with gmail, to create my female email account under Yahoo, so there's no linking, or to create an intermediate email address first, and use the intermediate email address to create your female account.

Another question I have for everyone, is there is a program called reverse image search that can take an image and figure out who it is. Once again, I'm not sure if the technology was implemented back in 2008. If we put a wig and makeup on, can a reverse image search link it to our male identities. Or can someone do a search on our male identities and a reverse image search points to your female picture? I think someone should write a sticky on these matters.

Oh, and unless you plan to transition to full-time as a woman, do not post anything about your cross-dressing on Facebook. None. Don't even attempt to create an account that you think is not linked to your male identity, because Facebook does not give a damn about your privacy. They're totally unscrupulous when it comes to violating your privacy. They violate your privacy in the worst ways and are in total denial of it. DO NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR CROSS-DRESSING ON FACEBOOK.

This is very serious stuff, and I am concerned that the internet can out us without us even trying, like a robot program on the internet does it for us.

[Desirae]

Yeah, the Reverse Image Search is called Tineye.

I don't know (remember) if I had another Yahoo account at the time. I think then I was using Hotmail for my webmail. Even with that, I know I have never used my real name when setting up mail accounts or any other accounts except for Paypal or things like that. I don't know, though. That's a really good thought you have about that how everything is interconnected now. I guess you have to think about 20 steps ahead if you do anything online.

Those are really, really, really good thoughts. Things I've never even thought about. Maybe it would just be easier to come out and say the hell with it. No more hiding and worrying. No more secrets.

[lingerieLiz]

Best way to avoid being recognized is to never post pictures of yourself. Today with face recognition software it isn't hard to read someone if you have another picture of them. While 360 may have given you away the makeup site may have done you in also. There are a lot of ways on the internet to determine who someone is. Don't know what your company did or how computer savvy the guy was so can't tell.

[Michelle789]

Has anyone on this forum been inadvertently discovered ON THIS FORUM by someone at work or by a family member? It's not inconceivable that that could happen, right? Are there any safeguards in place to try and make sure that doesn't happen?

Be careful not to give away too many details about yourself. Remember every detail is a hint. Your location, birthday, age, wedding anniversary, profession, or unique detail about yourself, are details that could out you potentially. Best not to divulge too much. Especially be careful if you live in a small town with 500 people, and you mention the name of the town, that will out you for sure. If you're from a large city, then you have a better chance to stay anonymous if you mention it.

I would definitely not mention both your birthday and wedding anniversary. If you mention your birthday, 1 in every 365 people share the same birthday. If you mention two dates of significance, 1 in every 133,225 people will have both those significant dates. One date may not out you, but two probably will, and two with your name of city or town will definitely out you. Hence, why I kept my birthday private on CD.com.

I would also avoid going to any cross-dressing related sites on your phone, especially if you have a Facebook account and a Facebook app set up on your phone.

[Deedee Skyblue]

Did your work have seasonal flows? Was anyone else laid off at the same time? Have job postings gone up for someone to replace you?

Desirae said it happened 5 years ago. Either they have filled it by now or they don't need the position.

Deedee

[Kate Simmons]

I'm wondering why you are bringing this up now if it was 5 years ago and as you say "water under the bridge". Evidently, it still bothers you. I'm thinking the guy that found it must have had something against you and/or had nothing better to do surfing web sites to catch someone doing something. Rest assured, he will get his due, those weasely types eventually do. :)

[Desirae]

I'm wondering why you are bringing this up now if it was 5 years ago and as you say "water under the bridge". Evidently, it still bothers you. I'm thinking the guy that found it must have had something against you and/or had nothing better to do surfing web sites to catch someone doing something. Rest assured, he will get his due, those weasely types eventually do. :)

Yeah, I guess it does bother me. It was a good job. I haven't recovered to the same level as that job. It upsets me that I did something to cause my termination and that someone else decided for me that it was time to come out. I mean where was my control over my life while someone else was doing this? It would be hugely different, at least I think so, if I would have voluntarily decided that I wanted to come out now, that it was time. What right does someone else have to decide something like that for you?

[Dianne S]

Yeah, I guess it does bother me. It was a good job.

Unfortunately, 5 years is probably too long to wait before investigating your options. I guess you're older but wiser.

I am lucky enough to be the boss where I work, so I wouldn't lose my job if I were outed. At the same time, I think my relationship with my employees would be irreparably damaged if I were outed, so I'm staying firmly "in" WRT work...

[Zylia]

It's pretty remarkable that a colleague found your profile and recognised you. I'm not familiar with Yahoo360, how big it was or if there was some kind of search function, but that sounds like finding a needle in a haystack while blindfolded: not impossible, but highly inconceivable.

I mean, Facebook apparently bases 'friend suggestions' on location and/or IP range as well, so it's not particularly hard to out yourself with a 'femme' Facebook profile, especially if you also have a 'normal' profile.

[Stephanie47]

If it was five years ago, you have no recourse. If this were to happen today to anyone there may be recourse. I would suggest ANY sexual minority; gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgender, research your applicable local and state laws. Also, research your company's position on transgenders. The local office may be out of line with corporate policy. There may also be recourse at the federal level with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In the State of Washington it is illegal to discriminate against gays, lesbians, transgenders, and transsexuals. The law goes as far as making it a NO-NO to discriminate because you perceive a person is one of the above, even when he or she is not.

[Alice B]

The more I read your answers the more I realize that far too many rules were broken by that company and you would have had a great law suit.

[ShriekCassandra]

Why are these assholes so obsessed with what their employees do outside of work time? It's like slaving for them several hours a day isn't enough and they want to monitor and control you 24/7. You earn them money and tolerate following their inane rules and regulations in the work period but outside of that your affairs are none of their damn business as long as it isn't a criminal offence. This is why I have no interest in interacting with other colleagues outside of job related topics. They're all bleached tooth grins and false sincerity but slip up once and they'll snitch you out just to make themselves look more loyal and subservient to the boss. Just a bunch of lapdogs.

I've yet to be outed by anything relating to my dressing but I have been rejected from voluntary applications in the past due to disclosing the fact I suffer from social anxiety disorder, which I won't admit on forms anymore. so much for them wanting honesty. Pisses me off so much, and they wonder why so many people branded outside of the "normal" spectrum of society are so reluctant to go back to work.

I'm actually very glad several sections of this site now require a certain amount of posts to be able to view from when I first joined here and some solely by invitation, makes me feel much more comfortable in sharing pictures and life stories, though I personally think the entire forum should be closed off to registered members only. That way if one of us happen to be recognised and reported by a colleague the no-life rat would also have to explain just what was he also doing signing up to a hidden speakeasy of trannies in the first place.

[linda allen]

Five years ago and you're just now posting it? It's a little late at this point to do anything about it.

People usually don't lose their jobs over a single event like this unless it was really serious like cheating, stealing, serious sexual harassment, helping the competition, etc. I suspect there were other issues and this was a final straw. They could have let you go for the other issues.

I assume by now you have a new job and I hope you're doing well with it. Just remember, a job is serious and no place to mess around.

[Julie Gaum]

Desirae, I'm more concerned with where you are going job-wise, what your future plans are and how are you making it happen than what
transpired 5 years ago. Sure S--t happens so walk away and don't dwell on bad things --- it will only make you sick and you have accomplished nothing!
We (speaking for many here) want to hear of what good things come into your life. Waiting for those OPs.
I'm betting on you.
Julie

[reb.femme]

I couldn't conceive of this happening in the UK, although I stand to be corrected. You might get ripped up a bit by workmates but generally, companies are only interested in your work rate, not your gender preferences / specifics.

My employer is a big company in the UK but wouldn't for a minute consider ditching me, in fact they'd probably want me in their major ad campaigns. Then I would be out to the world. :heehee:

Rebecca

[Michelle789]

Why are these assholes so obsessed with what their employees do outside of work time? It's like slaving for them several hours a day isn't enough and they want to monitor and control you 24/7.

Good point. Desirae you're better off not working for a company like that. This is the kind of company that would fire people for practicing the wrong religion, or for smoking outside of work. If I were running a business, I wouldn't even bother doing business with them. I would like to see a law where a company that discriminates against employees for being CD/TG/TS get downgraded by the Better Business Bureau.



I'm actually very glad several sections of this site now require a certain amount of posts to be able to view from when I first joined here and some solely by invitation, makes me feel much more comfortable in sharing pictures and life stories, though I personally think the entire forum should be closed off to registered members only. That way if one of us happen to be recognised and reported by a colleague the no-life rat would also have to explain just what was he also doing signing up to a hidden speakeasy of trannies in the first place.

I totally agree with this one. I think as a minimum, all pictures, including avatars and profile photos, should be available only to signed in members who have posted 10 or more posts.

[flatlander_48]

I was looking through the HRC.org website and found an interesting tool that lets you see how fortune 500 companies stack up on an equality index. It is pretty interesting to read what policies some corporations have. It does seem that there are more and more businesses that are in support of being accepting of LGBT workers.

I am pleased to say that my employer has been rated at 100% in the CEI for the past several years. What people have (slowly) come to realize is that good ideas and professional conduct are not related to sex, sexuality, ethnicity, etc. They are beginning to learn that if you want to be competitive on a continuing basis, you need to remove the obstacles that don't allow people to be themselves. The notion of "Bring your whole self to work." is such a simple concept, but we can burn up a lot of energy needlessly in protecting/hiding our true identities, remembering to use one pronoun instead of another, etc. If we didn't squander this energy, we could use it towards doing our jobs better, improving our possibilities for promotion and not being afraid to be recognized for doing great work.

As I said, it is such a simple concept.

[Michelle789]

Very well said flatlander. This goes for all aspects of being ourselves, including gender expression, gender identity, and allowing employees who live far to come and go at a later time so they can dodge rush hour traffic, or to even work from home at least twice a week.

The energy we spend in fighting our true selves, including gender expression and identity, is just as useless as the energy we put into fighting rush hour traffic, and the money we waste on gas.

[flatlander_48]

It's a $6,000,000,000 business based in a town of 11,000. We don't have rush hour traffic...

[Sarasometimes]

If you think we can't be figured out just remember Target didn't think 40million accounts could be hacked! As others have said each time we venture on the the WWW we connect some dots... I don't post pics of myself, period!

[Sharon B.]

I would say if this was done on a company computer then they had a reason to laid you off if not the you should contacted a lawyer and fought it.

[Kristina_nolagirl]

This seems very far fetched to me. I've been online for near a decade with millions of views on my photos all over the web, I work a pretty public job and certain people in my day to day life know and not once has someone "outed me". You're saying you post one photo on one obscure site and all of a sudden your company knows and fires you immediately? Maybe you were fired for other reasons and convinced yourself that was the reason over 5 years time?

[Jenniferathome]

Kristina, you are far too rational. That's never going to fly here;-)

[Stephanie Julianna]

I outed myself to another employee thinking that she would understand. She reported me and that ended a very successful 6 year career. I got a healthy severance check and a great deal on my company car. They just wanted me to go away quietly. That was 1980. I was 31 and had 3 kids and a wife to support. You did not win to many discrimination cases back then and to do that you would have to out yourself to friends and family. Now how do you get a job then. As it turned out I had a new job in a week with a 20% pay increase. Needless to say, I never did that again. Another bonus was that I got to see every game that the US Hockey played on their road to Olympic Gold. Every cloud has a silver lining (and a Lesson).

[gautier_nikolai]

Big companies have access to more than we possibly would know, just like Google et al.., i would suspect.Everything is too connected nowadays if you are informed enough and have enough access.

George Orwell here we come.Our modern day prophet.

[Helen_Highwater]

To follow up on what Michelle says;
This is an issue we all should be aware of. I recently spend 2 days at an employ-ability seminar for 17-18 year olds trying to get them prepared for the world of work. We spend some time discussing their on-line presence and that many employers now use these footprints as a way of assessing potential employees. Google your own name and see what you find. Have you linked Twitter to your FaceBook/Flicker account. These are trails that people can follow so if you put it out there don't be surprised if it gets found.

If you create an alter-ego presence of yourself from your computer say on FaceBook, your computer sends an identifier called a MAC address to the host web site. This is unique, it's how the internet knows where to send the info back to so no big surprise if the program links your 2 identities together. Someone more knowledgeable than me might know if creating a separate user account on the PC will stop this?

[AngelaKelly<3]

WOW!

You were inadvertently outed at work, an uncomfortable situation to begin with, but then they fired you for it?! :thumbsdn:

That's downright ILLEGAL surely?

[lingerieLiz]

In right to work states one only needs to say sorry but we don't want you any more. The real truth is that you can be fired anywhere in some places it just takes a little more paperwork.

[Desirae]

WOW!

You were inadvertently outed at work, an uncomfortable situation to begin with, but then they fired you for it?! :thumbsdn:

That's downright ILLEGAL surely?


No, it's not illegal if states don't have any safeguards regarding sexual orientation or gender identity. There are only a few states, of which I am aware, that have any protections for expression of gender identity. The USA is not the most liberal place to be in regard to protecting minority rights. A lot of people think it is, but in reality it is not. There are many countries well ahead of the US in that regard. The only absolute protections afforded right now are for age, sex (male vs female), religion, race, color, national origin, or disability. And these aren't even absolute. There are many, many ways that employers "get around" many of these protections.

[LadyInRed]

That's downright ILLEGAL surely?
if an employer is dumb enough to put it in writing perhaps there is something that can be done about it, however there are literally hundreds of ways for employers to get rid of employees
"Sorry lack of work."
"laid off"
"We've re classified your job, you need to re-apply"

it's kinda scummy tho

[donnalee]

One question that hasn't been asked. Did you, at any time, use the company network either wired or wireless, or a smart phone while on their premises, for any of your postings or personal web use? That can be seen as stealing resources and if the view of a transgendered site is equivalent to pornography in their eyes (people's ignorance and stupidity can be astonishing at times), it could (in their eyes) justify dismissal.
In any case, I'm sorry that it happened and agree it was unfair, but am curious why you brought it up at this late date - is something else going on in your life?

[karynspanties]

This is why I will NEVER post any kind of picture of my femme face ANYWHERE on the net. Tough lesson to learn. Sorry it happened.