An ongoing lawsuit in Chicago involves an ex-employee seeking redress for how an organization treated them.
To give more perspective, Morgan Mesi is a trans male residing in Chicago. He is claiming that his ex-employer denied him access to medical care. Mesi worked for Breakthru Beverage Illinois for roughly four years.
After submitting documentation for a proposed bilateral mastectomy, or “top surgery,” the liquor distribution company allegedly turned down the request. Their excuse? The company saw the procedure Mesi planned to have as cosmetic and not life-threatening. So, Mesi is out to sue his ex-employer for denying him the right to access gender-transitioning care.
For the uninitiated, a bilateral mastectomy is not entirely the same as top surgery. According to gender-transitioning surgery experts, the two procedures are related but have more specific purposes.
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Some non-binary folks indeed try to affirm their gender by having a bilateral mastectomy. However, most would specify that they prefer top surgery. Mastectomy is common with cancer patients and involves the complete removal of breast tissues, nipples, and areola.
On the contrary, top surgery is a reconstruction of the breast to help it feel more like a chest. So, top surgery retains the areola and nipples and sometimes a considerable mass of breast tissues.
Probably, ignorance of the procedure Mesi was proposing to have is the root cause of the ongoing litigation against Breakthru. Mesi started his gender-transitioning journey in 2016. At the time, he had already worked a full year for Breakthru. Interestingly, his employer’s health insurance has taken care of all his health expenses up until that time.
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Unfortunately, reports indicate that the trustees of the Workers Union at Breakthru denied Mesi access to the gender-affirming care he needed. According to him, the Union wrote the insurance carrier, requesting they refuse to foot the cost of Mesi’s transition treatment.
Mesi stopped working for Breakthru in 2019. However, they feel the time is right to revisit the case. At a recent press conference, the plaintiff went public with details of the lawsuit.
Mesi stated that the defendants did not allow him to do what he thought was best for his body. According to Mesi, the decision of what treatment is necessary for his health should be the sole responsibility of himself and his doctor.
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On the contrary, once a licensed doctor approves a treatment, Mesi believes the employer or Workers Union has no right to deny access to such treatment. To this end, the plaintiff is not suing his ex-employer alone but also the Workers Union that made the insurance company deny him access to medical treatment.
According to Mesi, “A board of trustees who has never met me should not be the ones deciding if my gender-affirming health care is medically necessary.”
Mesi’s lawsuit is not a string of baseless rants. Instead, he cites the Civil Rights Act 1964, emphasizing Title VII. Likewise, he’s accusing the Local 3 Liquor of violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act.
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