Atlanta ( AP )- A Georgia county requested on Tuesday that a federal appeals court overturn its decision that it had wrongfully discriminated against the deputy sheriff by failing to cover the cost of her gender-affirmation surgery.
however, Houston County Sgt. attorneys The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ‘ three-judge panel was urged by Anna Lange to accept the appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it is unlawful sex discrimination to deny Lange insurance cover for the treatment, they claimed during a reading in Atlanta.
After being denied protection in 2019, Lange, an analyst for the sheriff’s office in Houston County, filed a lawsuit against the county and Sheriff Cullen Talton.
According to a 2022 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Marc Treadwell, the state’s refusal to pay for the gender-affirmation operation that Lange was prescribed constituted unlawful sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling that a Michigan funeral home may n’t fire an employee for being transgender was cited by Treadwell in his purchase.
Lange later underwent the procedure after the judge mandated that the county’s insurance plan cover the cost. In 2022, a judge awarded Lange$ 60,000 in problems.
In an effort to present its case to a judge, the state wants to invalidate 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 destruction prize would be upheld.
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Houston County contends that health insurance is exempt from the U.S. Supreme Court’s prohibition against firing trans people.
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 state claimed that in an effort to reduce the cost of surgery, it paid for some of Lange’s care, including hormone therapy and visits from endocrinologists.
“Sgt., we have one prepare.” Attorney Patrick Lail informed the magistrates on Tuesday that Lange got, just like every other state staff and sheriff’s staff.
Judges were informed that Houston County’s claims may be rejected by attorneys for Lange and the US Department of Justice, citing six another court decisions that supported Treadwell. On Lange’s representative, the federal government stepped in, stating that it had to defend the rights of trans people and uphold Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act.
This is a straightforward situation, argued David Brown, Lange’s attorney. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is against Title VII for an employer to provide uneven benefits due to sex.
The court may ignore arguments about additional benefits given to the sergeant or additional procedures hardly covered, according to Lange’s attorneys. Instead, they claimed, the judges should concentrate on whether or not this specific prohibition on gender-affirming surgery was unfair.
According to Justice Department lawyer Anna Baldwin,” What it creates is an obligation not to handle people differently because of sex.” You cannot be excluded from the discussion 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.
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