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Corporate Citizenship Pro Bono

Pro Bono

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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.

Pro Bono

Inclusion

Sustainability

Community Outreach

Locations

Brussels Rue Belliard 35/9
1040 Brussels

T +32 2 290 18 20
Dallas 2828 Routh Street
Dallas, TX 75201

T +1 214 233 4500
Chicago 300 North LaSalle Dr.
Chicago, IL 60654-3406

T +1 312 728 9000
Frankfurt An der Welle 4
D-60322 Frankfurt am Main

T +49 69 79302 0
Houston 600 Travis Street
Houston, TX 77002

T +1 713 510 1700
London Citypoint, 1 Ropemaker Street
London EC2Y 9AW

T +44 20 3580 4700
Los Angeles 2029 Century Park East
Los Angeles, CA 90067-2905

T +1 310 855 3000
Milan Via Michele Barozzi, 2
20122 Milan

T +39 02 76363 1
Munich Brienner Straße 22
D-80333 Munich

T +49 89 203047500
New York 787 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019-6099

T +1 212 728 8000
Palo Alto 1801 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304

T +1 650 887 9300
Paris 21 boulevard Malesherbes
75008 Paris

T +33 1 53 43 45 00
Rome Via di Ripetta, 142
00186 Rome

T +39 06 68636 1
San Francisco 333 Bush St
San Francisco, CA 94104

T +1 415 858 7400
Washington 1875 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006-1238

T +1 202 303 1000
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