Atlanta: A Georgia county requested on Tuesday that a federal appeals court overturn its decision that, by failing to cover the cost of the lieutenant sheriff’s gender-affirmation procedure, it had unlawfully discriminated against her.
however, Houston County Sgt. attorneys The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ‘ three-judge board was urged by Anna Lange to dismiss the appeal. They claimed that it is unlawful sex discrimination to deny Lange comprehensive coverage for the procedure during a reading in Atlanta. The U.S. Supreme Court has made this clear.
After being denied protection, Lange, an analyst for the Houston County sheriff’s office, filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Cullen Talton and the state in 2019.
Judge Marc Treadwell of the U.S. District Court ruled in 2022 that the state’s refusal to pay for Lange to undergo the recommended gender-affirmation operation constituted unlawful sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling that a Michigan funeral home could n’t fire an employee for being transgender was cited in Treadwells ‘ order.
Lange later underwent the procedure after the judge mandated that the county’s insurance plan pay for it. In 2022, a judge awarded Lange$ 60,000 in damage.
In an effort to present its case to a judge, the state wants to overturn Treadwell’s purchase and the damage award.
After the reading, Lange said,” The law is on our side, obviously,” expressing confidence that the purchase and harm prize would be upheld.
Houston County contends that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, which forbids firing transgender persons, does not apply to health insurance.
The state also contends that because the program pays for some other remedies, its exclusion of gender-affirmation surgery is not biased. According to a county attorney, the state’s refusal to pay for Lange procedure is comparable to its rejection of hearing aids or lap band surgery in order to lose weight. The region claimed it paid for Lange’s treatment, including hormone treatment and visits from endocrinologists, but was attempting to reduce the cost of operation.
“Sgt., we have one program.” Lawyer Patrick Lail told the magistrates on Tuesday that Lange got, just like every other state staff and sheriff’s staff.
However, attorneys for Lange and the US Department of Justice advised magistrates that Houston County’s claims should be disregarded, citing six another court decisions that supported Treadwell. On Lange’s behest, the federal government stepped in, stating that it had to defend the rights of transgender individuals and uphold Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act.
David Brown, Lange’s attorney, argued that this was a straightforward situation. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is against Title VII for an employer to provide unbalanced benefits due to sex.
The court does ignore arguments about additional benefits given to the commander or uncovered procedures, according to Lange’s attorneys. Instead, they claimed, the judges should concentrate on whether this specific prohibition on gender-affirming operation was unfair.
According to Justice Department lawyer Anna Baldwin, it” creates an obligation never to handle people differently because of sex.” ” You cannot have an exclusion that states that lap band surgery is not covered because you are trans.”
According to court records, Lange expressed her desire to start dressing as a person at work to the judge and other officials in 2018 and inquired as to whether Houston County’s health plan may cover gender-affirmation surgery.
According to the documents, Talton, who was first elected sheriff in 1972, told Lange he did n’t “believe in sex changes” before allowing her to dress as a woman.
Gender-affirmation operation and medications had been prohibited by the state health strategy since 1998, and court records revealed that Houston County officials continued to do so even after the company that administers the program claimed in 2016 that the law was unfair under the federal Affordable Care Act.
