Trans Man Sues Chili’s for Firing Them Over “Lifestyle Values”
Former assistant manager Hudson Webber alleges a Chili's manager fired them after learning they were transgender.
Hudson Webber, a transgender man who previously worked at a Chili’s Bar & Grill in suburban Chicago, is suing the restaurant’s parent company, alleging a manager fired them after learning they were transgender and said their “‘personal values and lifestyle values’ did not align with the restaurant.”
The lawsuit was filed February 26 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Webber, 26, had worked at the restaurant for fewer than four weeks before being fired. They began work as an assistant manager at the Chili’s in Rosemont, Illinois, on April 17, 2025, and say in the lawsuit that they received glowing performance reviews during their first few weeks on the job.
But on May 1, according to the lawsuit, things suddenly changed. For no apparent reason, Webber was repeatedly called off from scheduled shifts.
“On one occasion, [Webber] was told not to report to work because a pipe had ruptured in the restaurant and no employees would be working that day,” the complaint reads. “[Webber] later learned that this explanation was false and that the restaurant had, in fact, remained open and staffed.”
The complaint alleges that Webber was “intentionally being excluded from work because management did not want [them] present.”
On May 12, 2025, the store manager terminated Webber without warning. When Webber asked if they could speak to someone else about the decision, the manager allegedly said he and his regional manager had made the decision jointly and that it “was final.”
Webber claims that when they were hired, no one asked about their gender identity, and they did not share information about their transgender status or personal life. According to the lawsuit, it was only after the manager became aware of their gender identity that their employment became an issue.
Webber says they lost their job and income and suffered emotional distress, humiliation, and degradation as a result of their firing. The lawsuit seeks back and front pay with interest, as well as compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorneys’ fees and court costs. It accuses their former employer of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on sex and gender identity.
An initial status hearing is scheduled for May 4.
Chili’s Bar & Grill — whose parent company is Brinker International — says on its website that it believes in “a culture of belonging,” telling job applicants that it welcomes “those of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, religions, age and backgrounds.”
However, Chili’s has previously faced discrimination allegations from LGBTQ employees. In 2019, a gay server at a Chili’s in Phoenix wrote that she was denied a promotion and forced to quit “because she didn’t fit her boss’s idea of what a woman should look like,” according to a commentary piece she wrote for the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2013, a cook at a Chili’s in Roseville, California, said his bosses laughed off a sexual assault by co-workers, allegedly telling him, “You’re gay, you like it.”
“We’re fully committed to creating a place where every Team Member and Guest is welcome and feels connected, valued and supported,” a Chili’s spokesperson said in an email to Metro Weekly. “We deny these allegations, but as this is ongoing litigation, we are unable to share any further details at this time.”
Greg Nevins, an attorney with Lambda Legal’s Employment Fairness Project — who is not involved in Webber’s case — told The Independent that the current political environment in the United States “basically denies transgender people the right to live their lives, publicly or privately.”
“There are relatively fewer cases in which someone says, ‘We’re firing you because you’re gay,'” Nevins said. “But it does happen all the time with transgender employees. In most of the transgender cases I’ve worked on, the employer has come right out and said, ‘This is why we’re not having you continue to work here.’ People have always been more willing to be discriminatory towards transgender workers.”
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