A Georgia county that lost a legal challenge to a provision of its health plan that bars coverage for gender-affirming surgery has asked the full Eleventh Circuit to revisit the decision, arguing that an opinion last month wrongly found the policy discriminates against transgender people, rather than being isolated to a single procedure.
In their petition for en banc review Monday, Houston County and Sheriff Cullen Talton said a three-judge panel had misread the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision Bostock v. Clayton County, which banned discrimination on the basis of sexuality and gender identity under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Bostock, the county argued, would have been applicable if the county had refused to grant any health coverage to a transgender employee, which was plainly not the case for Deputy Anna Lange, who was denied coverage for gender-affirming surgery.
“The county’s health plan does not do that. Throughout her employment with the Sheriff’s Office, Lange has participated in the plan under the same terms, conditions, and limitations as all other participants,” the county said.