Man fired after ‘misgendering’ colleague, refusing to write formal apology

An Australian worker had been sacked from his high-paying job after refusing to issue a written apology for accidentally “misgendering” a work colleague.

According to an August 1 report by The West Australian, a 63-year-old Perth man, whose name and workplace remain anonymous, was fired from his job for not writing a formal apology letter after the “misgendering” incident, despite already apologizing to the individual in person.

The controversy began in February 2025 when the man referred to a “non-binary” colleague as “he” instead of “they” during a leadership training course. Another colleague quickly told the elderly man that the worker identified as “they.” The gender-confused man had apparently told the elderly worker of his preferred pronouns earlier in the session.

The man immediately apologized and continued on friendly terms with the gender-confused worker for the remainder of the training session.

However, shortly after, a formal complaint was lodged, and his manager demanded a written apology. The man refused this, arguing that no one could be compelled to use specific pronouns.

The company, which had no formal pronoun policy, launched an investigation in March and terminated his employment. The man claimed wrongful dismissal and took the case to the Fair Work Commission (FWC), initially intending to pursue it in federal court.

He told the FWC that “if one person had the arbitrary right to use a particular pronoun, then another person had the right not to use it.”

However, at the FWC, the man was warned of potential “violent social backlash” if the case went to open court, leading him to reach a confidential settlement with his former employer.

Lawyers noted that the case was interesting, as the man did not have a religious opposition to using different genders but was opposed to being arbitrarily forced into using them and punished for not doing so.

Unfortunately, this situation is not unique, as many workers across the world have been targeted and punished for refusing to bow to the LGBT mob.