Wizards Of The Coast Deadnamed Trans Employees In Front Of Their Colleagues During Union Election, Apologized, Then Did

[Omaha Steve]

Wizards Of The Coast Deadnamed Trans Employees In Front Of Their Colleagues During Union Election, Apologized, Then Did It Again

https://kotaku.com/wizards-of-the-coast-trans-employees-magic-the-gathering-arena-2000702039

By Rebekah Valentine Published June 5, 2026

During the lead-up to a union election at Wizards of the Coast for Magic: The Gathering Arena, the company allegedly deadnamed a number of transgender employees in front of their colleagues. When confronted about this action, the company apologized, only to do the same thing again the following week during the election itself.

Kotaku has spoken to multiple union-eligible employees who explained the situation. According to them, WOTC and the group of employees filing for a union election agreed on an election to take place this week that would be in-person for in-office employees, and mail-in for remote employees. As a part of this process, WOTC submitted a list of employees eligible to vote to the National Labor Relations Board. Sources say that while WOTC has traditionally been friendly to transgender employees and widely supportive of their chosen names regardless of their legal names, and while the NLRB is open to using chosen names rather than legal names for elections, the list WOTC turned in to the NLRB included the legal names of all employees, including the deadnames of several transgender individuals. That list was then published on an internal website about the election that was accessible to everyone in the company.

Xib Vaine, one of the employees whose deadname was shared with their coworkers, said they found out about what had happened when a coworker messaged them and said they didn’t see their name on the list. “And I was like, ‘That’s weird.’ I went and checked and I was like, ‘Oh, I am on the list. It’s my deadname, which nobody at work knows.’ The way I’ve been describing it to folks, especially folks who are like ‘I don’t really understand the deal,’ it’s like, as a trans person, I just don’t want my deadname out there. It’s like if the company had sent my nude pictures to the entire company, where it’s just very, it’s very violating and it’s—it just sucks.”

Sources say that when confronted, WOTC removed the list, instead opting to send individual emails to eligible employees about how to vote. But then, during the in-person vote taking place earlier this week, it became clear that WOTC had not updated the list with the NLRB. Union elections with the NLRB do not require use of legal names nor showing of ID—they just require employees confirming they are the same person that is on the list the NLRB is given. In this case, several transgender employees were forced to give their legal names to the NLRB representative in front of an observer and in earshot of all others in the room waiting to vote, in order to be allowed to vote in the union election. Employees tell me that during a later voting session, the NLRB representative present made an effort to help employees confirm their identity for voting as privately as possible, but was ultimately still stuck with the list the company had given them.

FULL story at link above.