Today, Correia & Puth PLLC filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on behalf of federal employees, retirees, and their families, suing the Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for prohibiting health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) plans. OPM’s mandate has subjected federal employees and their families to higher barriers to access potentially life-saving medical care, forcing many to leave federal employment, take on heavy financial burdens or navigate the devastating circumstances of being priced out of the care they need solely because of who they are. Correia & Puth and its attorneys, Cathy Harris, Jonathan Puth, and Kelsey Speyer, are serving as lead counsel in the case and are joined by attorneys from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the law firm of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP
The federal court filing, Doe et al. v. Kupor, 1:26-CV-02723, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asserts that OPM’s prohibition on coverage for “gender transition” care in the FEHB and PSHB programs is in violation of Title VII. The claim is based on Title VII’s protections against sex discrimination, which apply to the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. A study issued last month by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates that at least 39,400 federal employees, retirees, and their dependents will be affected by the Trump Administration’s prohibition on health insurance coverage for gender affirming care. According to the lawsuit, the forced denial of coverage for medically necessary treatment amounts to sex discrimination in the provision of employment benefits, as supported by well-established legal precedents.
“Federal employees have been through the wringer with the Trump administration. We draw the line at blatant discrimination to deny healthcare to our nation’s dedicated civil servants,” said Cathy Harris, Partner at Correia & Puth.
To receive updates on the case, visit https://www.hrc.org/fehb-class-action.
