Today, Attorney General Brad Schimel filed an appeal of Boyden verdict that favored Alina Boyden and Shannon Andrews, two women who courageously challenged an exclusion in state employee health benefits that targeted transgender employees for discriminatory treatment. After a trial in which a jury of Wisconsin citizens found that Shannon and Alina should be compensated for this discrimination, the state has harmed them yet again by appealing the verdict and delaying justice. The state's group insurance board has already decided to offer coverage starting next year, making the appeal even more incomprehensible.
Shannon Andrews said: "The state's actions in appealing this suit even after the Group Insurance Board committed to offering coverage for a second time to trans workers in Wisconsin exemplifies this administration's commitment to capricious cruelty. This short-sighted waste of taxpayer money simply punctuates the last 8 years with a petty act of spite."
Alina Boyden added: "Tuesday's election was a repudiation of mean-spirited assaults on the civil rights and health care access of Wisconsinites of all backgrounds. Now, it feels as though the Governor and Attorney General have taken the opportunity on their way out the door to inflict one last insult on Wisconsin's transgender community in the form of an unnecessary and unwinnable appeal of our court victory last month."
The ACLU of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan, private organization whose 13,000 members support its efforts to defend the civil rights and liberties of all Wisconsin residents. For more on the ACLU of Wisconsin, visit our website at www.aclu-wi.org, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.