Bruce Vielmetti

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A federal jury in Madison has awarded $780,000 to two transgender state employees who were wrongfully denied insurance coverage of transition surgeries.

A judge last month ordered that care is covered, and the trial this week was only to determine the damages due to the plaintiffs, University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student, Alina Boyden, and Shannon Andrews, a researcher at UW School of Medicine.

Boyden thanked the judge and jury following the verdicts:

“It was wonderful to see a process where eight ordinary Wisconsinites were able to listen to our story, see that we were harmed, and make the decision that they did," she said in a statement.

"No one should have to tell their story to a room full of strangers to justify their medical expenses, but I am thankful that I had the opportunity to share my story. I hope this sends a powerful message to fellow transgender people in Wisconsin that our health matters.”

Larry Dupuis, legal director for the ACLU of Wisconsin, which along with the Hawks Quindel law firm represented the plaintiffs, also issued a statement, that read in part, "Discrimination comes with a cost, and for the State of Wisconsin the bill has come.”

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The case had been set for trial on the underlying question of whether the state had to provide coverage, until U.S. District Judge William Conley concluded that there was no legally valid reason to exclude medically necessary care for the workers and called some of the state’s arguments “unhinged from reality.”

Andrews has already had two surgeries, which she paid for, and sought reimbursement of those costs. She and Boyden also sought damages for emotional distress.