Gender dysphoria may be an ADA disability

The rights of transgender persons have become a hot button issue not only in schools and sports but in the workplace as well. Recently, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia) weighed in on whether a transgender woman, who suffered from gender dysphoria, was protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). With the decision, the 4th Circuit became the first appellate court in the country to rule that gender dysphoria may constitute an ADA disability.

Williams’ ADA lawsuit

Kesha Williams—who has gender dysphoria and was serving time in the Fairfax County, Virginia, jail—asked to obtain the hormones she had been prescribed to treat her disorder. The jail inquired whether she’d had genital surgery, and when it learned she had not, it moved her from the part of the jail for women to the part reserved for men. While housed with the male prisoners, she claimed she was harassed and denied consistent hormone treatment.

Williams filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Stacey Kincaid, in her capacity as Fairfax County Sheriff. In her lawsuit, Williams invoked the provisions of the ADA that prohibit state and local governments from discriminating against disabled individuals, including those who are incarcerated in local prisons or jails.