Tovar v. Essentia Health, No. 16-3186 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAfter plaintiff's son was denied coverage related to gender reassignment services and surgery, plaintiff filed suit against Essentia and the health insurance plan's third party administrator for sex based discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA), and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Eighth Circuit held that plaintiff was not discriminated against on the basis of her own sex, and the protections of Title VII and the MHRA do not extend to discrimination based on her son's sex. Therefore, the court affirmed as to this issue. The court reversed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's ACA claim based on lack of Article III standing, holding that plaintiff has alleged an injury cognizable under Article III because she contends that defendants' discriminatory conduct denied her the benefits of her insurance policy and forced her to pay out of pocket for some of her son's prescribed medication.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Benton and Beam, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - sex discrimination. District court properly dismissed Title VII sex discrimination claim against employer for refusal to cover treatment of her son's gender reassignment treatment as Title VII and the MHRA do not extend to such discrimination that is not on the basis of employee's sex. Dismissal of ACA claims against insurance plan for lack of Article III standing, was error, as Tovar suffered an injury sufficient to confer standing and the injuries were traceable to or redressable by the third-party insurance provider and the plan administrator. The court is not required to consider alternative grounds for dismissal. Judge Benton concurs in part and dissents in part.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.