Melanie (formerly Michael) Hargreaves has filed a lawsuit against her employer on the grounds that, by paying her as much as they used to, they’re not properly recognising her new gender identity.
‘At first, I was surprised by how enlightened the company was,’ she told reporters. ‘They were very supportive of my decision, told me to use whichever toilet I felt comfortable with, gave me time off for the surgery, and so on.’
‘When I came back, I was pleased to see my name had been changed on the website and all company paperwork. But then I saw my payslip. Exactly the same as I was earning before.’
‘Moreover, in three months no one has groped me, made an inappropriate comment, told me something I already know or asked when I’m going to hook myself a rich man so I can give up work. It’s as if I’m not really a woman in their eyes.’
The company issued a statement saying: ‘Blimey, what’s she moaning about now? Must be the time of the month’ – to which Melanie greeted as a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, a think tank looking into the question of how the money men earn can be transferred to women have concluded that such a mechanism already exists, and is called divorce.