Nearly two dozen Republican attorneys general filed an amicus brief Tuesday, urging a federal appeals court to reverse its decision that makes public employers responsible for covering gender-affirming care if the health care provided does not do so.
The attorneys general of Alabama, Georgia and Florida led the 23-state petition, calling the 11th Circuit decision last month “radical” and asking for a “correction”. The document requests that the entire circuit analyze the case.
Anna Lange, a Georgia deputy sheriff, sued her county in 2019 after it refused to cover her gender-affirming surgery. An 11th Circuit panel ruled last month that the refusal violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and constituted discrimination on the basis of sex.
A trial court awarded Lange $60,000 in damages and ordered the county to cover gender-affirming care for its employees in 2022.
“This case demands correction from the entire Eleventh Circuit,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wrote in a statement. declaration. “It is difficult to overstate how radical the panel’s decision is.”
Marshall argued that the Title VII ruling has “broad consequences for employers.”
“With its interpretation of a federal law intended to require equal treatment in the workplace, the court fundamentally transformed Title VII to require favored treatment for employees who identify as transgender, mandating coverage for any number of treatments or operations that such an employee may desire,” he said.
The 20 states that signed the amicus brief with Alabama, Georgia and Florida include Alaska; Arkansas; Idaho; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Louisiana; Mississippi; Montana; Missouri; Nebraska; North Dakota; Ohio; South Carolina; South Dakota; Texas; Tennessee; Utah; Virginia and West Virginia.
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