The Parties have agreed to resolve the case of Anna Lange v. Houston County Georgia., Case No. 5:19-cv-00392-MTT.  

[Houston County, GA] - The Parties have agreed to resolve the case of Anna Lange v. Houston County Georgia., Case No. 5:19-cv-00392-MTT.  Sgt. Anna Lange is a transgender woman who has served as a deputy in the Houston County Sheriff’s Office since 2006 and continues to be employed there as a Sergeant.  Sgt. Lange participates in the County’s health insurance plan (the “Health Plan”), which the Sheriff provides to Sheriff’s Office employees pursuant to an informal intergovernmental agreement with the County.    

The Health Plan contains exclusions for “[s]ervices and supplies for a sex change and/or the reversal of a sex change” and “[d]rugs for sex change surgery” (together, the “Exclusion”).  On October 2, 2019, Sgt. Lange, who was denied coverage for gender affirming surgery under the Exclusion, filed a complaint against the County and the Sheriff in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, captioned Anna Lange v. Houston County Georgia, et al., Case No. 5:19-cv-00392-MTT, asserting the Exclusion violates various laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  

In October 2022, after granting summary judgment on Sgt. Lange’s Title VII claim and a jury trial awarding Sgt. Lange damages, the district court issued an order permanently enjoining the County and the Sheriff from enforcing the Exclusion (the “Injunction”).  Because of the Injunction, Sgt. Lange was able to receive gender-affirming surgery in August 2023.  The County and the Sheriff appealed the Injunction to the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where the jury verdict and the Injunction were affirmed by a three-judge panel but then were both later vacated by the full court (Case No. 22-13626-U).  

Sgt. Lange received her gender affirming surgery while the Injunction was in effect, but once the Injunction was vacated, the County was permitted to and did return the Health Plan to its original structure, including with respect to the Exclusion, pending further litigation. The Parties now agree the Exclusion does not apply to nonsurgical care. Given those facts, and to avoid the costs associated with further litigation, the Parties decided to resolve the lawsuit.  

Among settlement terms, the County agreed to make a $5,000 reimbursement payment to Sgt. Lange for claimed out of pocket expenses not covered by the health plan.  Further, as stated above, the County returned the Health Plan to its original coverage, except that any procedures contemplated at the time of and that arise out of Sgt. Lange’s original surgery would be covered.  All parties released claims against the other parties. 

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