Memorial Union and quadrangle at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – Photo: Vonbloompasha, via Wikimedia.
A Wisconsin jury has awarded $780,000 in damages to two transgender state employees who were denied medical coverage for gender confirmation surgery under the state health insurance plan.
Alina Boyden, a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Shannon Andrews, a cancer researcher at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, filed a lawsuit against the state and its insurers in early 2017 after they were denied coverage for transition-related expenses.
The denial was based on a benefits exclusion adopted by the Wisconsin Group Insurance Board that prohibits coverage for procedures related to “surgery and sex hormones associated with gender reassignment.”
Andrews was forced to pay $21,000 in out-of-pocket expenses when she went forward with the surgery, while Boyden was forced to forego the surgery altogether, even though both women had been advised to receive surgery to treat their gender dysphoria.
Both women claimed that the denial of coverage violated their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as under federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex.
In September, a federal judge ordered the state and its employers to cover Boyden and Andrews’ transition procedures, or compensate them for out-of-pocket expenses.
The judge, William Conley, found that the exclusion in the state employee health care plan violated the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and provisions within the Affordable Care Act that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.
“[The] Exclusion on its face treats transgender individuals differently on the basis of sex, thus triggering the protections of Title VII and the ACA’s anti-discrimination provision,” Conley wrote in his 47-page opinion.
A jury of eight people subsequently decided to reimburse Andrews $479,000 and awarded Boyden $301,000, reports Courthouse News.
“It was wonderful to see a process where eight ordinary Wisconsinites were able to listen to our story, see that we were harmed and make the decision that they did,” Boyden said in a statement. “No one should have to tell their story to a room full of strangers to justify their medical expenses, but I am thankful I had the opportunity to share my story. I hope this sends a powerful message to fellow transgender people in Wisconsin that our health matters.”
While courts have increasingly found in favor of transgender individuals who have been denied insurance coverage for transition-related expenses, this case marks one of the first times a jury has awarded damages to victims who were discriminated against because of such exclusions.
“Depriving transgender people of access to transition-related care is discrimination and we are pleased the jury awarded Shannon and Alina the money they need to cover their care and for the harm they suffered,” Larry Dupuis, the legal director for the ACLU of Wisconsin, said in a statement.
In the meantime, the state’s Group Insurance Board voted to change its policy regarding coverage for transition-related expenses, meaning that beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, state employees will be able to have their insurance plan cover any surgery or hormones needed to treat a person’s gender dysphoria.
James Esseks, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project, which represented the women, reflected on the significance of the jury’s decision.
“For me, it’s beyond heartening that a jury could meet two transgender women for the first time in a courtroom, understand their stories about the denial of surgery and hormone care, relate to them as fellow human beings, and award them damages like this,” Esseks said. “It’s another sign of how the country is learning more and more about transgender people, which is due to the courage of individual transgender and nonbinary people like Shannon and Alina.”
The federal lawsuit alleges Chelsea Zahn was denied over $50,000 in commissions by team owner Art Rooney II after she complained about systemic pay disparity.
Chelsea Zahn, a gay woman who served as a corporate sales manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has filed a lawsuit against the team, alleging she was underpaid compared to male colleagues and targeted for discrimination based on her gender and sexual orientation.
The 6-count lawsuit, Zahn v. Pittsburgh Steelers LLC, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on January 13. It alleges the Steelers organization created a hostile work environment after learning Zahn is gay and that team owner Arthur J. Rooney II specifically denied her more than $50,000 in commissions owed for 2024.
In late November, the University of Oklahoma placed Mel Curth on administrative leave after the transgender graduate teaching assistant gave a student a zero on an essay about gender roles.
The essay cited the Bible to defend traditional gender roles and described transgender people as "demonic." Curth and the course's instructor, Megan Waldron, said the paper failed to meet basic academic standards due to a lack of empirical evidence. Both noted that the paper cited no scholarly sources and failed to offer an evidence-based critique of the assigned article, which argued that children who do not conform to rigid gender stereotypes are more likely to face bullying and negative mental health outcomes.
A New York City subway rider was slashed in the face earlier this month by an unidentified assailant who took offense to him kissing his transgender partner. The attack occurred around 7:50 p.m. on January 10 aboard a southbound No. 6 train as it traveled through Manhattan.
According to police, the 28-year-old victim was kissing his partner when the suspect began shouting anti-gay slurs. The verbal abuse quickly escalated into a physical confrontation. During the argument, the suspect struck the victim with a sharp object, causing a deep laceration on the right side of his face, according to New York CW affiliate WPIX.
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