Off-Duty

Peter Oiler was a competent truck driver with a 20-year record of exemplary service at Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. He showed up on time, performed his duties well and caused no problems while on the job. But it was his off-the-job behavior-cross dressing-that ultimately got him fired in January 2000.

The 47-year-old resident of Avondale, La., likes to wear women's clothing, accessories, makeup, wigs and fake breasts. He usually adopts the persona of "Donna" at home but sometimes goes out with his wife and friends to restaurants, the shopping mall and church. Upon learning of his non-mainstream activities, Winn-Dixie terminated Oiler. The company's managers said their customers might shop elsewhere if they recognized "Donna" in public as a company employee, court records show. "His activity could harm the company image," Oiler's supervisor said, according to the complaint Oiler filed in federal court. But Oiler says he had no contact with shoppers, and he sued Winn-Dixie for sex discrimination, alleging the company fired him because he did not conform to the gender stereotype of a man.

"Everyone agrees he was not terminated for anything related to his job performance," says Ken Choe, an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney based in New York who represented Oiler. "All of the cross-dressing behavior occurred off the job," and Oiler never violated Winn-Dixie's dress code. However, Winn-Dixie won in a court of law.

• What effect, if any, does the off-duty behavior have on the work environment and the company's image?