The settlement between Lakeland Eye Clinic and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of the former employee, Brandi Branson, was approved late Thursday by US District Court Judge Mary Scriven in Tampa, Florida.
The case, along with a similar lawsuit by the EEOC against a Detroit funeral home, has been closely watched by companies and LGBT groups because it could help establish new legal protections for transgender workers.
The settlement came a week after the EEOC issued a decision ordering the U.S. Army to pay unspecified damages to a transgender civilian employee in Alabama who was required to use a unisex bathroom after she transitioned to a woman.