DENVER (AP) – A woman who was fired while preparing to undergo sex-change surgery was let go in violation of state anti-discrimination law, the head of Colorado’s civil rights agency has ruled.

Advocates praised the ruling, saying it was the first of its kind in Colorado and a sign that society has begun to better understand transgender people.

Danielle Cornwell, 54, claimed in a complaint filed in April with the Civil Rights Division that she was fired in July 2005 because she was a woman and because she had recently told the company she planned to undergo gender-reassignment surgery.

Originally known as David Michael Cornwell, she had realized while working for Intermountain Testing Co. that she was a transgender woman, according to the ruling. She began assuming a feminine appearance, and also told her employer she planned to change her name and dress in women’s clothing.

The company, which uses X-rays and other methods to test materials for the construction and manufacturing industries, argued Cornwell was fired because of a decline in business and because she had a low performance rating.

In his Aug. 21 decision, Civil Rights Division Director Wendell Pryor agreed Cornwell was fired because she was a woman and said the evidence did not support the company’s claims. He said no other employees doing similar work were fired.

“Given this, it appears that the [company’s] decision to discharge [Cornwell] was based on her gender – female,” Pryor wrote.

Intermountain Testing President Gary Bollerud did not return a call. His attorney, John Husband, declined to comment.

The ruling means Cornwell and representatives of her former employer will meet in October to try to agree on a resolution, her attorney, John Hummel, said Sept. 14. Cornwell said she would not seek her job back. Hummel said such cases typically are resolved with a cash settlement.

“The well’s been poisoned,” Cornwell said.

Hummel, who works for the Legal Initiatives Project of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Colorado, said it was gratifying that the agency did not find the case controversial.

“Maybe that’s a sign of progress in society in beginning to understand transgender people more than they had before,” he said.