News (USA)

DMV clerk who called transgender woman an ‘abomination’ resigns

DMV clerk who called transgender woman an ‘abomination’ resigns
Amber Yust

In October we reported the story of a transgender woman in San Francisco who received a hate-filled letter from a Department of Motor Vehicles clerk telling her that she was an “abomination” and that “all gay people should be put to death.”

This week, the DMV clerk, Thomas Demartini, who had worked as a customer service agent at the department’s San Francisco office for about two years, submitted his resignation, according to a DMV spokesman.

Demartini has been on paid administrative leave since the incident; the DMV is reportedly nearing the end of its investigation and has plans to make its findings public.

In Ocotber 2010, Amber Yust went to a San Francisco DMV office in San Francisco to change her name on her driver’s license.

A week later, Yust alleges she received a personal letter at home from Demartini telling her she that she was “an abomination,” is going to hell and that homosexuals “should be put to death.”

Yust’s lawyers said they learned that Demartini had previously refused to process an application from another transgender woman in August 2009, and that she too was going to hell. In that incident, the DMV issued and apology and allowed Dematini to keep his job.

Yust’s attorney, Christopher Dolan, said Demartini should have been fired instead of being allowed to resign.

Dolan has filed a damage claim with the state, saying Yust suffered embarrassment and emotional distress — it seeks damages in excess of $25,000.

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