Lawsuit alleges former Chili's worker fired over transgender identity
USA TODAY
The former employee said they were told their “personal values and lifestyle values” did not align with the casual dining restaurant.
A former employee of Chili’s Grill and Bar in suburban Chicago says they were fired after just three and a half weeks on the job after their manager learned they were transgender, according to claims made in a recently filed federal lawsuit.
Hudson Webber, a transgender man assigned female at birth, said a manager at the Rosemont, Illinois, casual dining spot explicitly cited Webber’s “personal values and lifestyle values” as the reason for their termination on May 12, 2025, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, says that when Webber asked to speak to someone else, the manager said the decision had been made jointly with the regional manager and that a worker at a separate location was being let go for the same reason.
A spokesman for Brinker International, the publicly traded corporation that owns Chili’s, said the company was “unable to comment or share any further details at this time” given the ongoing litigation.
According to the complaint, Webber was hired April 17, 2025, and met or exceeded performance expectations. Within two weeks, the work atmosphere had shifted, Webber said: In the days leading up to their firing, Webber was “repeatedly called off from scheduled shifts.”
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