Lawsuit follows gender change and firing
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"I was born a girl, but I had boy stuff," Vanderthorne said, referring to her male genitalia. "I want to be accepted as who I am. It's a struggle, but I'm signed on for the duration."
But she says the change didn't go over well with her employer, Northwest Jeep of Beaverton. She claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment and ultimately fired when she began dressing as a woman and legally changed her name and gender.
She filed a lawsuit last year seeking $40,000 in back pay and $500,000 in compensatory damages.
"My bottom line is they need to be spanked," Vanderthorne said. "You can't treat people like this."
Vanderthorne, 47, was an auto-transmission specialist for 18 years until she was injured on the job. She then was retrained to be a customer-service representative in auto dealerships' service departments. That was during the days she was living and working as a man.
In 1987, she began seeking treatment for gender-identity disorder, in which scientists say gender identity develops one way while the body develops the opposite way. But it wasn't until 2002 that she was ready to "transition" — to begin to dress and live full time as a woman.
Lawyer Stephen Rickles, who represents Northwest Jeep in the lawsuit, said the company did nothing wrong.
"Ms. Vanderthorne wasn't terminated for any reason having to do with her gender," Rickles said, adding her dismissal "was motivated by a slowdown in their business."
He denied Vanderthorne was discriminated against or harassed. "We intend to present evidence that she was treated appropriately and fairly," he said.
Vanderthorne started work at Northwest Jeep in March 2002. As the third customer-service representative, she said she got fewer cars to write up, but those she did had the highest number of work hours per repair order.
On Halloween, she came to work dressed as what she described as a "devil girl."
"The next day, I had to get dressed back in drag, which for me is dressing as a man. I was really depressed about it, so I decided it was time to transition," Vanderthorne said.
Following her doctor's suggestion, she took each co-worker aside privately and explained her situation.
"Ninety-eight percent were empathetic," Vanderthorne said.
It was when she told her manager, Floyd Quidding, that the problems began, she said. He was visibly upset, she said, and said he would discuss it with the owner, Robert McGrain.
When she returned to work the following week, she says, Quidding told her she had to leave the property until a meeting with the owner later that day.
According to Vanderthorne, at the meeting McGrain had her sign a notice that she was required to write 17 repair orders per day, and the notice was backdated to her first day.
Vanderthorne said McGrain told her to "clean off your makeup and take off the earrings."
Vanderthorne is moving on with her life as she waits for the lawsuit to wind its way through the court system.
She moved to Yachats on the Oregon coast and opened a pizzeria called Rachel's Roadhouse last June. She serves on the Yachats planning commission and is running for mayor.
"When my life changed, I needed to start life anew. I've done that," she said.