SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 09, 2010) - The Dolan Law Firm filed a claim today against the California DMV on behalf of transgender woman and San Francisco resident Amber Yust, for failing to protect her privacy and civil rights. The filing contends that a DMV employee, Thomas Demartini, who has a history of harassing DMV customers, retained Yust's personal information, shared it with a fundamentalist Catholic group, where he is a member, and then sent her a direct letter and supporting materials condemning her transgender status.
The letter calls Yust "an abomination," suggests homosexuals be to "put to death," and states that Demartini "do[es] not believe the state's recognition of [a name change] - through official documents - makes it legitimate or any less evil." Additional materials sent directly by Demartini's church, the Most Holy Family Monastery contained a DVD threatening "Death and the Journey into Hell" for those "possessed by demons" of homosexuality.
"I was shocked to receive this letter from the person who processed my paperwork at the DMV," said Yust. "I would have never expected that a DMV employee could use information from my name change application to reach out and personally attack me. This has been a traumatic experience for me and I want to ensure nothing like this happens to anyone else. If the DMV can do this, then no one is safe."
News & Video about Transgender Women's Claim Against DMV for Discrimination
This is not the first time Demartini has used his position with the DMV to harass consumers based on personal religious beliefs. In summer of 2009, he refused to assist a transgender woman attempting to change the name on her Driver's License, telling her, "I want to let you know that God will send you to hell!" The DMV apologized for the incident, promising "to ensure that [this] experience is not repeated."
The claim is brought by Yust's attorney, Christopher Dolan of The Dolan Law Firm, working with the Transgender Law Center. Dolan said, "We trust the government with our private information. When government employees release citizens' names and addresses they place them at risk of injury, death, and/or identity theft. I would not want my daughter's address or other identifying information released to anyone outside of an authorized government organization. Furthermore, the fact that Ms. Yust's information was released to a far right church preaching that transgender and gay people should die or go to hell shows exactly how revealing this kind of information can place citizens in danger. The fact that Ms. Yust is transgendered makes the situation even more dangerous, as we have seen in the past that minorities have been the targets of threats and violence."
"This was an egregious act committed by a government employee," said Masen Davis, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center. "Transgender people deserve to be treated with respect at agencies like the DMV. Unfortunately, what happened to Amber is not an isolated incident; transgender people face discrimination and harassment often. We intend to do everything we can do to hold the responsible parties accountable and prevent this from happening again."
BREAKING NEWS: The DMV employee named in the claim has resigned. According to department spokesman Mike Marando, the ex-employee will not receive benefits or unemployment.
