4th Circuit extends ADA protection to transgender individuals

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina employers) has become the first appellate court in the country to find that gender dysphoria is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

This ruling came about after a transgender woman sued Fairfax County, Virginia, for housing her with men during her time in jail. Specifically, the 4th Circuit’s ruling has declared that gender dysphoria—a disorder that causes distress from the discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and their sex assigned at birth—may qualify as a disability under the Act.

Facts

In a split decision that will reverberate across the broad spectrum of the areas the ADA covers—including employment, public accommodations, and transportation—the 4th Circuit majority said gender dysphoria is distinct from the gender identity disorders that Congress wrote out of the ADA when the law was passed in 1990.

In the case, Kesha Williams, a transgender woman, filed a complaint against prison employees for discriminatory treatment while she was incarcerated. She alleged she was housed on the men’s side of the prison, denied timely medical treatment, harassed, and intentionally misgendered by prison officials in various ways.