LGBTQ+
Willkie has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community through pro bono work and community outreach. In recent years, Willkie’s pro bono efforts have focused on supporting the transgender community in particular as set forth below.
Willkie has represented LGBTQ+ individuals from over a dozen countries seeking asylum after fleeing physical abuse, sexual assault and/or death threats due to their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Healthcare Coverage
Willkie continues its work, which began with Cruz v. Zucker in the Southern District of New York, to ensure nationwide access to healthcare coverage for transgender individuals. Willkie was co-counsel to the Legal Aid Society and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project in this federal class action on behalf of transgender Medicaid patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria (GD). The team achieved a complete victory, resulting in the amendment of the challenged regulation which now provides coverage for treatment for many low-income people with GD. The team also obtained an order resulting in New York State removing restrictions on medically necessary healthcare for transgender Medicaid recipients under the age of 18.
Willkie attorneys, along with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), represented a sheriff’s deputy, in a federal lawsuit in Georgia, who was denied coverage for medical care related to her transition. The suit, Lange v. Houston County, alleged that the plan’s transgender-related healthcare exclusion violated the constitutional right to equal protection, Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. The Willkie team won the Title VII claim on summary judgment, and the Georgia federal district court issued a landmark ruling holding that employers who refuse to cover gender affirming care violate federal law. Following a trial on damages, the jury found that Sgt. Lange suffered mental and emotional harm as a result of her employer’s denial of healthcare coverage for her gender-affirming surgery in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and awarded Sgt. Lange compensatory damages.