A Florida woman says she was fired from her job at Walmart after a terrifying incident in which a man mistook her for a transgender woman and followed her into the women's restroom to verbally assault her.
Dani Davis, a 6'4" cisgender and queer woman, says the encounter occurred on March 14 at the Lake City Walmart, where she had worked for nearly seven years. While using the restroom during her shift, she says a man stormed in yelling threats, claiming he was protecting his wife or girlfriend from "them"—a reference to transgender women.
"I was the only one in there, so it seemed pretty clear he saw me enter and assumed I was trans because of my height," Davis posted online. "It was terrifying."
After the incident, Davis says she reported the altercation to her immediate supervisor, who noticed she was visibly shaken. But less than a week later, Davis was fired, with the company citing a failure to report the incident to a salaried manager, labeling it a "security risk."
"I took it to mean that I was the security risk because someone had mistaken me for trans," Davis told The Washington Post.
Following the termination, Davis appealed through Walmart's internal process but was denied. After her story went viral, Walmart issued a statement saying the company does "not tolerate bullying or threats of violence" and offered Davis her job back—with back pay.
However, Davis says she's uncertain whether she'll return. "I think it would just be a hostile environment to return to," she said.
Davis has since filed for unemployment and remains unsure about her next steps—especially in what she described as an increasingly anti-LGBTQ+ climate in Florida.
Originally published on Latin Times
