Atlanta – The federal court of appeals reversed a previous court ruling that found that Georgia County illegally discriminated against Sheriff’s representatives by failing to pay for her gender performance surgery.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found in an 8-5 ruling that Houston County’s policy of denying coverage did not violate the civil rights of the Sheriff Sgt. Anna Lange.
The Atlanta-based appeals court ruling overturned a three-judge appeal panel, and a lower court ruling, both of which argued that Lange’s refusal to cover Lange’s gender-provided application for surgery under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“The county’s plan draws the line between certain treatments and other treatments covered,” Judge Andrew Brasher wrote in the comments of six other judges. “As a health care policy issue, this line may not be appropriate, but it is not based on facial discrimination in protected status.”
The decision relies heavily on a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that Tennessee prohibits gender care for transgender minors. The decision focused on the right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment, which requires the government to treat similar people.
The 11th Circuit ruling brings similar reasoning to civil rights laws to employment discrimination, saying that the landmark decision of 2020, in which transgender people cannot be discriminated against in the workplace, does not apply to this health insurance issue.
“The county’s policies will not pay for any gender change action for anyone, regardless of their biological gender.” Brasher wrote.
The arguments of the five judges of Justice Robin Rosenbaum and the consent lawsuit attacked the reasoning. Judge Jill Pryor’s main objection said the Supreme Court did not rule on civil rights laws in the Tennessee case, and the 2020 ruling should depend on discriminatory treatment of gender affirmation. Other judges are more direct in attacking
“However, for her trans identity, Sgt. Anna Langer’s medically necessary surgery will be covered by the employer’s health insurance plan,” wrote Senior Judge Charles Wilson. “Since facial discriminatory coverage is excluded, this is not the case. Since discrimination against trans people was banned by Title VII, I disagree.”
Rosenbaum said she felt the Supreme Court’s Tennessee ruled to vote against Lange as a lower court judge. But she wrote a long-term view that while engaging with the majority, she attacked the Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit decisions and said that their reasoning “brings our anti-discrimination jurisprudence to root our exact historical stereotypes.”
Lange, an investigator with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, sued Cullen Talton and the county in 2019 after refusing coverage. The lower judge ordered the county’s insurance plan to pay for the surgery, and Lange eventually accepted the procedure. The jury awarded Lange $60,000 in 2022. The county attempted to cancel Tredwell’s order and damage rewards.
Kelly Parry-Johnson, a transgender advocate attorney representing Lange, said Wednesday that attorneys are still deciding whether Lange should appeal to the Supreme Court.
But Parry-Johnson said the personal facts in her case demonstrated that the county was intentional to discriminate against her by returning to the district court and seeking a trial, which was also an option for Lange to win her case.
She said lawyers believed the ruling was “a very specific situation that Lange is dealing with”, saying it was not “propaganda” and that it would overturn civil rights protections for trans people.
“It’s frustrating to know that I’m going to have to keep struggling to get the rights that the jury has already said,” Lange said in a statement. “It should never happen to me and no one else should have happened.”
Houston County attorneys did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comments Wednesday.
