March 22, 2023
The Eighth Circuit said it will not reconsider its opinion upholding a permanent injunction of a federal rule that would have required religious employers to cover gender confirmation surgery, despite protests from the U.S. Department of Justice and a Catholic benefits group.
January 24, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice and a Catholic benefits group gave the Eighth Circuit different reasons why it should reconsider its decision to largely uphold a permanent injunction blocking a federal rule requiring religious businesses to cover gender-confirmation surgery, with the DOJ arguing that the decision upends precedent.
December 16, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court gave states a green light to ban abortion and revived retirees' lawsuit against Northwestern University in two marquee decisions from a busy year in federal benefits litigation. Here, Law360 looks at these and other rulings from 2022 that employers and retirement plan administrators should take note of.
December 09, 2022
The Eighth Circuit largely upheld on Friday a lower court win for groups of Catholic health care providers and employers, allowing them to permanently block a government agency's rule requiring employers and health care providers to cover gender-confirmation surgery.
September 16, 2022
Recent court decisions are raising questions about religious employers and health care providers' obligations to provide or pay for health care for gay and transgender individuals under the Affordable Care Act, attorneys say, creating uncertainty the U.S. Supreme Court may eventually have to address.
July 07, 2022
Catholic groups and the federal government told the Eighth Circuit that pending regulations won't affect the government's appeal of an injunction blocking federal agencies from requiring certain religious businesses to cover health care procedures for transgender employees and that the court should move forward to a decision.
June 22, 2022
The Eighth Circuit asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Catholic groups battling over whether employers and health care providers must cover gender-confirmation surgery to lay out how an expected HHS rule on the Affordable Care Act's prohibitions on discrimination would affect their case.
May 27, 2022
Transgender people claiming that benefits denials violate anti-discrimination laws, as well as employers and health care providers that say covering gender-confirmation surgery would violate their religious beliefs, have launched lawsuits in federal court seeking rulings on the scope of their rights. Here's a look at five cases hinging on trans worker health coverage that lawyers should keep an eye on.
May 25, 2022
The U.S. Department of Justice told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that a recent Nebraska federal court ruling doesn't help Catholic organizations looking to uphold an injunction exempting religious employers from covering gender transition surgery because the trial court barred hypothetical enforcement actions and not actual policy.
May 23, 2022
A group of Catholic organizations fighting the U.S. government's appeal of an injunction exempting religious employers and health care providers from covering gender transition surgery told the Eighth Circuit that a recent ruling barring similar enforcement against members of a Christian business group helps their case.