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Survivor Contestant Claims He Lost Job After Outing Trans Tribe Member

Survivor Contestant Claims He Lost Job After Outing Trans Tribe Member

Jeff Varner, Survivor
CBS

When reality television affects reality. 

In our age of hyper-connectivity--where a problematic tweet from three years ago can cost you a job--it's no wonder that Jeff Varner, the Survivor cast member who outed another person on the show as transgender, is facing the real life fallout of his televised behavior.

Related | Survivor Contestant Zeke Smith Outed as Transgender, Called 'Deceptive'

Varner told Entertainment Tonight that he was let go from his job at Allen Tate Real Estate the day after the outing episode aired in "what I felt was an ugly, knee-jerk reaction kind of way."

"I wasn't even given the chance to explain or right the wrong," he said. "in the real estate world, buyers and sellers want to know they're signing up with a company that won't dump them or turn their backs on them in time of trial. So I'm talking to several firms now that I know will care about and believe in their employees. I have had several reach out [and] I'm confident I'll find a better home."

In a statement to the Huffington Post, Varner's employer wrote: "The Allen Tate Companies were built on core values of honesty, integrity and respect. Those fundamental beliefs led us to end our relationship with Mr. Varner, a real estate agent who had become affiliated with our firm just 17 days earlier."

They added, "To be clear, at no time before the airing of the Survivor episode on Wednesday evening was our management aware of his actions on that episode. We make all decisions such as this one with careful consideration of our clients, employees and our agents."

Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

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Dennis Hinzmann