January 2021

Page A12 JANUARY 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A your reporting systems. There is nothing else like it in the funeral profession.” In the Planning Center, families can enter necessary in- formation, select basic service preferences, view and up- load documents, photos, and files, write the obituary, and even submit eSignatures for forms. “With the Planning Center, funeral directors will be able to communicate more effectively and become more efficient, which means they can spend more of their time having meaningful conversations with the families they serve,” said McQueen. “Basically, with the Planning Cen- ter, you are able to outsource the paperwork portion of the arrangement conference to a computer, so that you can focus on what only you can do, which is plan and personalize the service for the unique life that has been lived. Honestly, your time as a funeral director is much too valuable to be spent filling out forms.” The all-new Planning Center features a fresh, new look, improved user experience, and a two-way sync with the case management system in Passare. “If you have not seen what Passare has to offer in the last six months, it’s time to take another look,” said McQueen. “You owe it to your- self to see what your life and your business could be like when you have Passare’s powerful tools working for you.” Passare offers the funeral profession’s only funeral home collaboration software with integrated business manage- ment tools. Through Passare, funeral directors can con- nect and communicate with families and access case infor- mation anytime, anywhere, using any internet-connected device. Offering unlimited users, unlimited devices, un- limited updates, and 24/7 customer support, Passare is helping funeral staff to save time, streamline processes, and spend more quality time with the families they serve and with their own families at home. To learn more about Passare and request a free demo, visit www.passare.com, call 800-692-5111 or email support@passare.com. Passare ® Announces All-New Planning Center ABILENE,TX— Passare, Inc is excited to announce the arrival of the all-new Planning Center, a platform de- signed to allow families and funeral directors the option to collaborate on funeral or memorial arrangements, any- time, anywhere, using any device. “The biggest challenge for the funeral profession is com- munication with families,” said Josh McQueen, vice president of product at Passare. “With the Planning Cen- ter, many of the miscommunications surrounding phone calls, texts, missed messages, lost sticky notes, and too many emails are resolved. When all of your communica- tion is scattered across a variety of platforms and people, it’s inevitable that details will get missed. The Planning Center brings all that communication into one conve- nient place and it integrates seamlessly into your case management system, your third-party software systems, your business analytics, your accounting services, and Rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination against race, color, religion, sex or national origin and equal employ- ment opportunities and employment discrimination. The Harris Funeral Homes sought a decision from the United States Supreme Court. The Court agreed to hear the appeal. The case was heard on October 8, 2019. The ACLU has claimed this was the first transgender challenge to a civil rights complaint heard by the Supreme Court. The main argument was whether the Court had the right to expand or interpret the 1964 Civil Rights Law to include transgender people. A 6-3 decision came on June 15, 2020, with Justice Neil Gorsuch writing that the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title VII did cover “sexual orientation and gender identity”. He wrote: “An employer who fired an individual for be- ing homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex.” Justice Samuel Alioto, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting view. “But the question in these cases is not whether discrim- ination because of sexual orientation or gender identity should be outlawed, the question is whether Congress did that in 1964.” In November 2020, a federal consent decree by U.S. Dis- trict Court Judge Sean Cox ordered that R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes must pay Stephens back pay of $63,723.91 and damages of $66,276.09 to her estate. Yes, to her estate. Aimee Stephens died in May, before the Supreme Court ruling. I offer no opinions and hopefully have given both parties an equal argument. This is a case that needs to be observed and considered for any employer. Clarence Darrow offered this advice: “Justice has noth- ing to do with what goes on in a courtroom; just in what comes out of a courtroom.” A thought for both sides. “It made me mad and that’s basically why I filed suit to begin with. I’d given quite a few years to them (Harris Fu- neral Homes), I had good reviews, we got along good — then all of a sudden, it’s ‘We don’t need you anymore.’ I got mad enough to do something about it.” –Interview with Aimee Stephens on VOX Observations “Harris follows professional codes of conduct and dress so that clients can focus on processing their grief, not on the funeral home or its employees. As Tom explains, there is an “expectation” for funeral-home representatives, “how they’re going to dress and how they’re going to look.” –From R.G. & G.R. Harris’s legal brief Aimee Stephens died on May 12, 2020 in Redford, Michi- gan without knowing the legal legacy she left. Anthony Stephens was hired by the R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes of Detroit and surrounding areas, as a fu- neral director, in 2007. He wore the business suit that Har- ris’s provided for him. Six years into his employment, Anthony Stephens gave Harris Funeral Homes owner Tom Rost a letter on July 31, 2013, before he went on a two-week vacation. Her message expressed her self-discovery of gender dys- phoria (where one identifies with the other sex and wishes to live that way). Anthony Stephens would return to work as Aimee Stephens, in name and appropriate dress. The letter had been shared with all co-workers, rather than in a confi- dential correspondence to owner Tom Rost. It read: “I have known many of you for some time now, and I count you all as my friends. What I must tell you is very dif- ficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster…I have a gender identity disorder that I have struggled with my entire life. I have managed to hide it very well all these years…With the support of my loving wife, I have de- cided to become the person that my mind already is…To- ward that end, I intend to have sex reassignment surgery. The first step I must take is to live and work full-time as a woman for one year. At the end of my vacation on August 26, 2013, I will return to work as my true self, Amiee Aus- tralia Stephens, in appropriate business attire. I realize that some of you may have trouble understanding this. In truth, I have had to live with it every day of my life and even I do not fully understand it myself…As distressing as this is sure to be to my friends and some of my family, I need to do this for myself and for my own peace of mind and to end the ag- ony in my soul…It is my wish that I can continue to work at R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home doing what I have al- ways done, which is my best!” After much consideration, Tom Rost could not accept this new version of an employee. He offered Stephens a sever- By Steven Palmer ance package. Stephens refused and filed a complaint through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They filed suit on September 25, 2014. Tom Rost had no problem with a female funeral director. His grandmother was one of the first female funeral directors li- censed in the state. He had a problem that Aimee (or Anthony as Rost knew this person) was a man and not a woman. The R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes have served their area for over 100 years; current owner Tom Rost is active in his com- munity and his faith. Aimee knew at age five she identified as a girl. As Antho- ny, she was a Baptist minister in North Carolina. She sought a therapist in 2008 and began her journey into the recogni- tion of who she wished to be. In 2013, when Rost was in- formed, she was fired. She turned to the American Civil Lib- erties Union who helped her file the original complaint with EEOC. Rost claimed again that he fired Stephens because he thought of her as man. He would not have discharged her if she re- tained her identity as man. Therefore, it was not sex discrimi- nation. A devout Baptist, Rost believes that God has made us one sex or another. Ms. Stephens trying to change this with a new name and female dress does not change her gender. Her new identity would “distract and upset bereaved clients”. Previous laws preventing discrimination against homosexuals never anticipated transgender issues. The Baptist News Global said “This is an important case, and no matter how dispassionately our justices may claim to rule, the passion, emotion and fear ripple through the nation’s soul for years to come.” Stephens got a job at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit as an autopsy assistant. At 55, she was facing several serious health- care issues as her legal battle advanced through the courts. In addition to back surgeries, kidney failure put her on dialysis. The EEOC claimed that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covered her grievance. This was the first time the EEOC had represented and sued on behalf of a transgender woman. The District Court found in favor of the Harris Funer- al Homes on August 18, 2016. The court claimed that Civil Rights Act Title VII did not cover transgender persons. An ap- peal was filed on October 13, 2016. On March 7, 2018, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that as a transgender person she was protected. The Civil Appearances Steven Palmer entered funeral service in 1971. He is an honors graduate of the New England Institute of Applied Arts & Sciences. Hehasbeenlicensedonbothcoasts,heownedtheWestcottFuneral Homes of Cottonwood and Camp Verde, AZ, where he remains ac- tive in operations. Steve offers his observations on current funeral serviceissues.HemaybereachedbymailatPOBox352,Cottonwood, AZ 86326, by phone at (928)634-9566, by fax at (928)634-5156, by e- mail at steve@westcottfuneralhome.com or through his website at www.westcottfuneralhome.com or on Facebook. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at >>>> Innovative. Adaptive. Effective. Trusted. EXPERIENCE THE See how we can help at wi thum. com/why-wi thum WITHUM WAY News Funeral Home & Cemetery online www.nomispublications.com