Current:Home > MyAppeals court upholds ruling requiring Georgia county to pay for a transgender deputy’s surgery -MacroWatch
Appeals court upholds ruling requiring Georgia county to pay for a transgender deputy’s surgery
View
Date:2025-04-13 08:13:49
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery.
In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was tasked with determining whether a health insurance provider can be held liable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for denying coverage for a procedure because an employee is transgender. The three-judge panel decided in a 2-1 vote that it can and that the lower court had ruled correctly.
Houston County Sgt. Anna Lange, an investigator for the Houston County sheriff’s office, had sued Sheriff Cullen Talton and the county in 2019 after she was denied coverage.
“I have proudly served my community for decades and it has been deeply painful to have the county fight tooth and nail, redirecting valuable resources toward denying me basic health care – health care that the courts and a jury of my peers have already agreed I deserve,” Lange said in a news release from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented her.
A woman who answered the phone at the sheriff’s office Tuesday said she would pass along a message seeking comment.
U.S. District Court Judge Marc Treadwell ruled in 2022 that the county’s refusal to cover Lange’s prescribed gender-affirmation surgery amounted to illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Treadwell’s order cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision finding that a Michigan funeral home could not fire an employee for being transgender.
The judge ordered the county’s insurance plan to pay for the surgery and Lange eventually underwent the procedure. A jury awarded Lange $60,000 in damages in 2022.
The county sought to undo Treadwell’s order and the damage award.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says an employer cannot “discriminate against any individual with respect to his (or her) compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
The 11th Circuit opinion says the Supreme Court clarified in another Georgia case that discrimination based on the fact that someone is transgender “necessarily entails discrimination based on sex.”
veryGood! (6598)
Related
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Drake denies Kendrick Lamar's grooming allegations in new diss track 'The Heart Part 6'
- Incredibly rare ancient purple dye that was once worth more than gold found in U.K.
- All 9 Drake and Kendrick Lamar 2024 diss songs, including 'Not Like Us' and 'Part 6'
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Kylie Jenner Shares Her 5-Minute Beauty Routine for Effortless Glam
- You Won't Regret Shopping These Hidden Free People Deals Which Are Up To 56% Off
- Leak from Indiana fertilizer tank results in 10-mile fish kill
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Obi Ezeh, a former Michigan football and all-Big Ten standout LB, dies at 36
Ranking
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Leak from Indiana fertilizer tank results in 10-mile fish kill
- When is daylight saving time? Here's what it means and when to 'fall back' in 2024
- Gen V Reveals Plan for Chance Perdomo’s Character After His Sudden Death
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Frank Stella, artist known for his pioneering work in minimalism, dies at 87
- Two suspects arrested in fatal shooting on Delaware college campus are not students, police say
- Tom Cruise Poses For Photo With Kids Bella and Connor for First Time in Nearly 15 Years
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton Reveal Unexpected Secret Behind Their Sex Scenes
Valerie Bertinelli walks back 'fantasy soulmate recreation' of Eddie Van Halen romance
When do NFL OTAs start? Team schedules for 2024 offseason training and workouts.
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
When do NFL OTAs start? Team schedules for 2024 offseason training and workouts.
Where to watch and stream 'The Roast of Tom Brady' if you missed it live
The Bachelorette's Desiree Hartsock Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 3 With Husband Chris Siegfried