Trans Employee, ACLU Sue Dignity Health For Insurance Discrimination

By Will Stone
Published: Monday, June 6, 2016 - 1:34pm
Updated: Monday, June 6, 2016 - 8:38pm
(Photo by Will Stone - KJZZ)
Joe Robinson, a nurse at Dignity Health, is suing the hospital for not covering his gender transition treatment. He is pictured with his fiance, Melissa Mayo.

An employee of Dignity Health is suing the healthcare provider for not covering his gender transition treatment. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in U.S. district court Monday, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex.

Joe Robinson works as an operating room nurse at Chandler Regional Medical Center, run by Dignity, and began transitioning about a year ago. But as he prepared to get his first surgery, he discovered his policy excludes transgender-related treatment.

"That came as a shock to me," said Robinson. "I've had to pay out of pocket for everything from my hormone therapy to my counseling and for my top surgery, as well."

That has amounted to well over $10,000, he said.

"It’s interesting that Dignity is okay with allowing us to treat transgender individuals, but doesn’t want to provide us with health care insurance,” Robinson said.

Robinson eventually filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which found reasonable cause to believe that Dignity’s insurance plan discriminates on the basis of sex.

According to court documents, Dignity Health responded to Robinson’s complaint with the EEOC by saying its denial was not discriminatory because its policy offers no benefits for "personality disorders," including gender identity, behavior and impulse control disorders.
 
But that does not fit the general consensus of the medical community, said Steve Kilar with the ACLU of Arizona.

“So for a hospital to come back and say that this is a personality disorder means that they either have no idea what the prevailing healthcare standards are, or that they don’t care,” Kilar said.

Kilar said any facility that receives federal funds should be providing transition related healthcare to their transgender employees.

Denying transgender employees such doctor-prescribed treatments violates the Civil Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act, argues the ACLU in its lawsuit.

Dignity Health said it does not comment on pending litigation.