Transgender Status May Be Covered Under ADA, Says Fourth Circuit

(from Schwartz Hannum)  A recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has broken new ground in the area of transgender rights under federal law. While the decision directly involved the rights of an incarcerated individual to access to medical care, its reasoning — if followed by other courts and in analogous contexts — could have broader implications for employers nationwide. The Fourth Circuit, which covers North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, held that a transgender woman who had been denied hormone treatments in a county jail in Virginia qualified as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In so doing, the court took an expansive view of federal protections available to transgender plaintiffs under Title II of the ADA — the section that governs services provided by state and local governments. The ruling could be seen as applying to private employers as well, since the Title I of the ADA governs workplace disability accommodations.

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