Chicago trans man Morgan Mesi, 34, filed a federal lawsuit Dec. 14 that alleges he was denied medically necessary and critical gender-affirming healthcare by the health care plan that is run jointly by his former employers and union.
Mesi's attorneys are Caryn Lederer, Tory Tilton and Charlie Wysong of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick and Dym, Ltd.
The lawsuit names Tenzing Wine & Spirits, LLC and Breakthru Beverage Illinois, LLC (where he worked as a sales associate until 2019) as well as Liquor & Wine Sales Representatives, Warehousemen, Clerical, Distillery, Rectifying, Tire, Plastic and Allied Workers' Union, Local No. 3; Local 3 Liquor and Allied Workers Sales Division Health and Welfare Fund and trustees of the Fund as co-defendants.
It alleges that the co-defendants violated Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act by denying him this gender-affirming healthcare, in addition to his experiencing suicidal ideation and him having to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for his top surgery (which he received at Northwestern Hospital in 2019) after repeated denials by the named co-defendants.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Mesi described being devastated and in extreme distress when he learned the health plan had refused to cover his top surgery, which like other gender-affirming surgery for trans people, has been standard medical treatment for many years.
Mesi also said he had been experiencing suicidal thoughts and that this surgery was a matter of life and death for him. Additionally, the press release noted that Mesi's health care providers backed him up with extensive documentation stating that this surgery was medically necessary for his survival.
The lawsuit states that Mesi filed appropriate and timely discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR). The EEOC, after a thorough investigation, determined that the named co-defendants likely violated the law "based on [Mesi's] sex, gender identity and disability" and that they "maintained a health insurance policy that, since at least October 2016, excluded and refused to pay for medical treatments based on sex and disability, including gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy, in violation of Title VII and the ADA."
The EEOC gave Mesi the go-ahead to file this timely lawsuit since the co-defendants refused to abide by their ruling and he had already exhausted all of his administrative remedies.
During a December 14 press conference alongside Lederer, Mesi said "access to gender-affirming health care is lifesaving. It is why I stand before you here today. It saved my life. But the defendants in this lawsuit discriminated against me by denying me access to this deeply necessary health care … This lawsuit is about my right to control my body free from discrimination. A board of trustees who has never met me should not be the ones deciding if my gender-affirming health care is medically necessary. That decision should be between me and my doctors."
At that same press conference, Lederer added that "when Morgan's employer/union plan denied the surgery, they told him it was because the surgery was 'cosmetic,' it was 'elective.' Let me tell you how those terms were defined by Morgan's health care plan. It defined those procedures as 'for appearance-only or for purely superficial reasons.'
Morgan, along with his treating health care providers, sent letters asking to reverse the denial because it was medically necessary. These letters made absolutely clear that the surgery was not superficial. That it was needed to treat Morgan's acute and chronic distress and diagnosed gender dysphoria."
According to the complaint, Mesi started working for Tenzing/Breakthru in 2015 and started the process of seeking gender-affirming health care in November 2016 with visits to a therapist. Then, at the end of 2017, Mesi began his hormone therapy and made an appointment to seek out information about top surgery. After submitting documentation to his health care plan to receive his top surgery in 2018, he received a "Plan Exclusion Notice" denying him this surgery because it was deemed "cosmetic." He later learned from a representative at his insurance company that it was the union directing them to deny the surgery, not the other way around.
Mesi appealed this decision and in a letter from the union's trustees, it stated that his plan only covered mastectomies (top surgery) for people with cancer or those with a family history of cancer or a similar disease.
The lawsuit also alleges that his doctor visits for his gender dysphoria were covered under his plan until he requested to have the top surgery. It was at that moment when all of his gender-affirming health care was denied by his plan.
In an email statement to Windy City Times, Breakthru Beverage Illinois, LLC said, "While we do not discuss the details of pending litigation, we categorically deny any allegation that Tenzing or Breakthru discriminated against this associate in any way. Breakthru has a very active DE&I commitment with a wide variety of programs that support our associates' ability to live and work as their true selves."
Lederer said in an email statement to this publication that, "The decision by Morgan's employers and union demonstrated that the plan wouldn't cover gender affirming care, regardless of the medical evidence provided or what doctors directed, our lawsuit alleges. That type of categorical coverage denial is discrimination and against the law."
"Even when things seem impossible, there is always a path forward," said Mesi in an email statement to Windy City Times. "I'm grateful for my friends, family and community. I would not be able to do this without their love and support. With this lawsuit, I hope to create space for the world to see us the way we see ourselves."
At the time of publication, Local 3 Liquor and Allied Workers Union did not respond to Windy City Times queries about this lawsuit.
