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The City of Springfield has approved a settlement in a complaint filed in 2020 over the denial of gender-affirming health care to a former city employee. 

Under terms of the settlement, the city will pay $95,000 to Katherine Anastacia Holt, who worked for Lincoln Library, for harm she suffered as well as legal fees. 

The library is a department of the city.

Amber Sabin, a city spokeswoman, said the settlement will come out of the city's self-insurance fund.

Holt sought coverage for medications and other medical care prescribed by her physician to treat her gender dysphoria, which is generally the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.

Holt later learned that the city's insurance plan specifically denied coverage for “sex transformation and hormones related to such treatment.”

In February 2022, the ruled in Holt's favor. Several months later, the city changed its health insurance plan for employees to cover gender-affirming care.

The decision was the first time that excluding gender-affirming care from employee insurance plans was declared to violate Illinois’ civil rights law, including protections for sex and gender identity.

Hanauer said his concern was about other areas the city's insurance doesn't cover that it could liable for.

"I've had people reach out to me and say when people come (to work for the city), they know what the insurance covers and just because it doesn't cover what they want, to me I think a lot of people feel that this isn't right," Hanauer said.

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City attorney Gregory Moredock said that after the suit was filed in November 2020, Illinois changed the insurance code to define and cover the types of claims that were at issue in the lawsuit.

"We do now address those issues," he said. "We did move to dismiss this case because these items were not required by the insurance code when this lawsuit was filed, but I do think that subsequent changes to the insurance code have better clarified what we need to cover, and the city does cover that now."

Holt, through the who represented her in the case, said the settlement was "a win for me and for every transgender employee across Illinois. It brings closure to my personal struggle after Springfield denied me coverage simply because of who I am. That was wrong.

“But this outcome also sends a strong signal to all employers including towns, cities, and counties across Illinois that they are violating the law if they do not provide coverage for gender-affirming care for their employees.” 

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.