Federal Worker Gender Transition Care Limits Upheld by EEOC (1)

The government can lawfully limit federal health carriers from covering certain gender transition procedures, the EEOC said in a new ruling.

The Republican-controlled commission on Thursday rejected claims from a group of transgender current and former federal employees that the Office of Personnel Management’s health coverage policy violated anti-discrimination laws.

The ruling in Sam T. v. Kupor adds to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s efforts under the Trump administration to chip away at transgender rights in the private and federal sectors.

The workers in the case had enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits plans in 2016 and 2018. At the time, OPM said FEHB plans had to provide at least some coverage for gender transition services and procedures.

The latest guidance for 2026 said gender transition services would not be covered under FEHB plans, which cover millions of federal employees, retirees, and their families.

Shane Stevens, associate director for health care and insurance at OPM, said the EEOC’s finding “reinforces” the agency’s responsiblity to “protect taxpayer-funded benefits for federal employees and retirees.”

“Federal health benefits must be administered in a way that is fiscally responsible, legally sound, delivers high-quality care, and works toward improved health outcomes,” Stevens said in a statement.

The EEOC’s ruling, which referred to coverage for “sex-rejecting services,” rejected allegations that the federal workers faced sex-based discrimination prohibited under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act or disability bias under the Rehabilitation Act.

The decision overturned the commission’s 2024 ruling in Lawrence v. OPM, which found that denying health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care violated Title VII.

In doing so, the agency cited the 2025 US Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Skirmetti, which held that a Tennessee law banning hormone therapy for minors did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Kalpana Kotagal, the EEOC’s lone Democratic commissioner, said in a statement that she voted against the decision. She said the ruling “is on the wrong side of the law, the wrong side of the facts, and the wrong side of history.”

“Transgender people are part of our workplaces. They, like everyone, are entitled to be free from discrimination at work,” Kotagal said.