Denny's Under Fire for Discrimination

[Editor's note: The photo that previously accompanied this article was mistakenly identified as Brianna Freeman. We wish to express our apologies and regret the error.]

A transgender woman is suing a Denny's restaurant in Maine, saying she was barred from using its restroom in October 2007.

Brianna Freeman, 45, said she is not suing for monetary compensation but simply the right to use the bathroom, according to Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

Freeman said she had been using the women's bathroom for about a year until a restaurant manager told her that she had to stop using it. Her attorney, Jennifer Levi, said that most other restaurants have been accommodating toward her client. An attorney representing Realty Resources Hospitality, the company that owns the Denny's franchise in Auburn, said that some women had complained that Freeman was using the bathroom.

"The obvious concern with a business like Denny's is the safety of its patrons," attorney Patrick Mellor told MPBN. "And we're not suggesting the plaintiff would take any inappropriate actions when using the woman's restroom and have never suggested that this plaintiff has done anything inappropriate. The problem is that another individual with inappropriate motives could abuse the policy that permitted a male to use the woman's restroom."