Change or Pay

We wager the speed of social change may never have been faster than it has been in the past 200 years in the United States and it seems to be ever-accelerating.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in our evolving understanding and treatment of the concepts of “gender” and “sexual identity.” And caution to people, institutions, and businesses that fail to keep up with our evolving culture.

On Friday, December 14, 2018, after reviewing a week’s worth of evidence, a jury in Dakota County, Minnesota concluded that The Minnesota Vixen (“Vixen”) football team and the Independent Women’s Football League (“IWFL”) intentionally discriminated against Christina Ginther, a transgender woman, by maintaining and applying a discriminatory eligibility policy that specifically excluded transgender women from the league.

Regular Minnesota Litigator readers may recall that Fairview Health Services, Inc., also ran into problems for its treatment of a transgender patient in the past couple of years.

A Dakota County jury found that the Vixen and the IWFL wrongfully discriminated against Ms. Ginther, then they found that the discrimination caused Ms. Ginther compensable mental anguish, and, finally, the jury found that punitive damages were warranted against the IWFL.

Congratulations to Ms. Ginther and her lawyers, Nick May and Lucas Kane. And to Minnesotans, may this be a reminder or wake-up call to those who have not already come around and embraced tolerance and respect of our transgender community, which are not matters of courtesy or “political correctness.” They are the law.