The job listing said she needed five years of management experience, but Berghorst said she couldn’t get a good explanation about why she never got an interview. She said the representative she talked to never could point to any deficiencies in her resume.Īccording to Berghorst, one of the most troubling examples of being passed over for a job came when Berghorst applied for a training job after she had been known throughout her career for teaching other workers, and she already had more than eight years of managerial experience. But Thompson, whose Casey Jones law firm specializes in representing railroad workers, said he’s never seen anyone else have issues returning to that job later because they stepped down.īerghorst said human resources officials never seemed to have a good answer when she asked why she was being passed over.

Berghorst had worked her way up in the ranks to several different management jobs, but she decided to step away from a demanding roadmaster job in 2016 when she was struggling with mental health issues.īerghorst’s lawyer Nick Thompson said it’s not unusual for roadmasters to step down from those jobs that require people to be available all the time when they are dealing with personal issues, such as a divorce. That was in sharp contrast from earlier in her career when the 50-year-old was promoted regularly before her gender transition in 2018.īerghorst said she had even previously held some of the jobs she was applying for and got positive reviews from her supervisors when she did them.

“Once hired, our employees are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect have equal access to tools, resources, training and development opportunities and have equal opportunity to achieve their full potential,” Kent said.īerghorst still has the plaque the railroad gave her thanking her for “making a significant impact on BNSF’s diversity and inclusion journey” hanging on her wall.īut around the same time she got that award, Berghorst said she was struggling to even get an interview for the more than a dozen jobs she applied for despite her impressive resume.

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