Canadian fashion model Frances Coombe is suing Muse NYC for civil rights violations after coming out as transgender and claiming the agency failed to recognize her as a male.
Coombe, 30, is seeking a jury trial, an undisclosed amount of money for alleged emotional damages and $300,000 in damages for loss of income, Daily Mail reported. Coombe had reportedly worked for Muse NYC for twelve years.
In October 2021, Coombe notified Muse CEO Conor Kennedy of her decision to identify as non-binary, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit further claims Kennedy responded by stating, “In the modeling world non-binary does not exist, we will still pitch you to clients as a woman …We’ll be sending you to women’s wear jobs and you have to separate your private life from your work life.” (RELATED: Model Learned “In The Catholic Church” To Be Trans)
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Coombe in August 2023
In early 2022 Coombe took new headshots with a private photographer and sent them to Muse shortly after starting to take testosterone, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims Coombe formally requested to work as a male model in 2022, to which Kennedy allegedly told her she was “insufficiently masculine.” Continuing to push to be a male model with no avail, Coombe resigned from Muse in March.
Coombe claims since telling Muse she identified as male, she was not listed as an exclusive model with the agency but as an independent contractor, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement sent to Daily Beast by Coombe’s lawyer, Jillian Weiss, Coombe stated “… [she is] filing this lawsuit so no other models of any gender need ever face such job discrimination in the modeling industry in the future.”
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Kennedy’ss lawyer Carlos M Carvajal said, “It’s surprising and disappointing that Frances, after a decade of working together, has filed this lawsuit that lacks merit and is legally flawed … we look forward to clearing Muse and Mr. Kennedy of any alleged wrongdoing.”