Long before Massachusetts legislators passed the contentious bill that protects transgender people from discrimination in public accommodations, Biogen Inc. was championing the rights of its transgender employees.
Three years ago, the Cambridge biotech adopted a transgender rights policy and mapped out a plan for workers who are transitioning to a different gender. Chief executive George Scangos recently penned an editorial in the Raleigh News & Observer blasting the new law that excludes gay, lesbian, and transgender people from anti-discrimination protection in North Carolina, where the company has 1,300 employees. The biotech also actively advocated for the Massachusetts law, recently taking part in a roundtable at the State House of business leaders supporting the bill.
Javier Barrientos, senior director of global diversity and inclusion at Biogen, recently spoke to reporter Katie Johnston about the company’s outspoken stance on transgender rights.
Q: Biogen’s goes beyond simply creating a nondiscriminatory atmosphere for transgender workers. The company’s policy also lays out a plan for employees in the process of transitioning. What does it entail?
It talks about what to do in advance of the announcement, how to handle issues of bathroom use, what to do after the transition in terms of name changes and benefits. Normally we start with an awareness training for the immediate leadership team. We invite an expert from outside the company, and they get to hear what are some best practices about how other companies have handled this, and they get to ask all the questions they need to ask. And then we go on to completing the plan with the dates, with the help of the employee, when we believe the milestones will be achieved, including presentation in the new gender. It’s worked, and we really haven’t had an incident.
Q: The question of which bathroom a transgender person should use has caused an uproar. How does Biogen handle it?
We give the employee a choice. If they to want a single occupancy bathroom for a while, that is their option. I don’t know if anybody has asked for a specific bathroom assignment, neither the employee nor the co-workers. If the transgender employee would feel more comfortable for a period of time, we might be able to designate a single-use facility.
Q. Why has Biogen been so outspoken about transgender rights? How does it benefit your company?
Fundamentally, we think it’s the right thing to do. Talent comes in all forms, shapes, and backgrounds, and we want to be a company that welcomes that talent. The same thing is true for our patients. Patients come in all backgrounds. Diversity is a driver of success in the workplace, so it contributes to better quality decision-making, better innovation. Bringing all these people from different backgrounds under one tent to be able to collaborate, you need to establish an environment that is fair and is respectful and is conducive to merit and excellence. You cannot have any of that if you have employees who are in fear of being who they are.
Q: Have there been any repercussions for being so vocal about this issue?
The only ones that I know of are very positive letters of support from employees and patients and random people who felt that it was the right thing for Biogen to do, to stand up. In the most recent webcast that George did, the employees had an opportunity to ask him about it, and when he addressed this issue, he got a resounding round of applause.
Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com and on Twitter @ktkjohnston.