EVERETT, Wash. — After a decades-long career at Boeing, Rachel Rasmussen filed suit against the company. She alleges Boeing employees and managers created a hostile work environment, violating the Washington Law Against Discrimination. She also alleges the retaliation she suffered for reporting harassment violated the WLAD.
Rasmussen said it started in 2010 when she made the decision to align her physical appearance with her gender identity; she transitioned to living as a woman.
"I knew at 5 years old. Coming to accept myself is a long story on its own, but by 2010, I could no longer live with that pain. I just wanted it to stop," she said.
This transition came after a career with Boeing, which started in 1989. After years of work, Boeing promoted Rasmussen to Crane Mechanic in 2007. It was a position she thought would be her job until retirement.
"I really enjoyed that work. I made a career out of facilities work, site maintenance," Rasmussen said. "You've probably seen the cranes carrying the airplane parts. That was largely my focus."
According to the lawsuit, however, her 2010 transition is when the decade-long harassment began. The suit says Rasmussen's coworkers and manager placed a target on her back by regularly outing her as transgender to new employees, vandalizing her property and shouldering her into hallways, telling homophobic jokes, and using homophobic slurs. Still, worst of all, the suit says a coworker sexually assaulted Rasmussen in front of others.
"It was an extremely humiliating experience where a broomstick was shoved in my genitals," Rasmussen said.
According to the lawsuit, the sexual assault was only a small snapshot of the harassment, accusing Boeing employees of the following: grabbing Rasmussen's butt, asking about her genitals, asking if she pees standing up, comparing transgender people to pedophiles, and mocking Rasmussen's gender identity. According to Rasmussen, her supervisor knew of the harassment but "gazed on indifferently."
The lawsuit, which is below, provides documentation of the sexual assault, emails Rasmussen sent and received after the incidents, along with pictures showing some of the retaliation that's alleged in the suit.
Jay Free, Rasmussen's lawyer, said he hopes this will change the culture at Boeing.
"Boeing's made repeated promises that are hollow about safety, caring about their employees, inclusivity. It's time they turn that into action," he said.
"They tell you to speak up with any sort of concerns. When I would speak up, my concerns were met with silence," Rasmussen said. "Everybody at Boeing and in the state of Washington should feel safe to come to work, a harassment-free environment, should feel safe to speak up with concerns."
When asked about the lawsuit, Boeing declined to comment.