WASHINGTON - A civilian employee of the Illinois National Guard has filed a class action complaint to the Army National Guard Bureau Equal Opportunity Office (NGB-EO) challenging a Trump administration policy prohibiting transgender federal employees from using restrooms and other accommodations aligned with their gender.
LeAnne Withrow of Springfield, Illinois, is a lead military and family readiness specialist and civilian employee for the Illinois National Guard. Previously, she served as a staff sergeant for the National Guard and is the recipient of multiple commendations and awards, including the Illinois National Guard Abraham Lincoln Medal of Freedom.
Following a January 20 executive order signed by President Trump, officials with the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Defense, and the federal National Guard Bureau issued notices to all employees requiring use of designated restrooms strictly based upon their sex assigned at birth. Soon after, Withrow was instructed by supervisors within her chain of command that she may not use restrooms and other facilities designated for women. That order violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment. In a 2020 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States held 6-3 that Title VII prohibits discrimination against transgender workers on the basis of their sex.
Today’s class action filing challenges the executive order and ensuing implementation actions with violating Title VII as well as the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedures Act. The complaint was filed on behalf of Ms. Withrow by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of DC, the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU, and Democracy Forward.
“Since coming out nearly a decade ago, the fact that I’m transgender has had no negative impact on my abilities as a worker and has caused no disruption or disturbance among my colleagues or supervisors,” said LeAnne Withrow, a civilian federal employee for the Illinois National Guard. “This policy would put a needless barrier between my work on behalf of military families, forcing me to choose between my service to this country and my own dignity. I love my work and want nothing to come between me and the people I serve. I’m hopeful the courts will see through this blatant effort to push people like me out of the federal workforce.”
“Let’s be clear–if you cannot use the bathroom at work, you cannot go to work,” said Shana Knizhnik, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Transgender federal workers across the federal government are facing an intentional effort to drive them out of the workforce and out of public life by an administration with no shortage of hostility towards them and their identities. We look forward to making this case to the agency and will do everything we can to ensure all federal workers are treated equally and fairly regardless of who they love or who they are.”
“This case is about people. Targeting transgender people is both unlawful and a dangerous example by our federal government. Democracy Forward is honored to work with LeAnne and our partners in this case to defend transgender people from hateful and harmful bigotry,” said Democracy Forward Legal Director Audrey Wiggins.
“This policy is part of a national campaign to push transgender people out of public life,” said Michael Perloff, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU-D.C. “It’s discrimination pure and simple and it has no place in our law or our society.”
“Illinois has rejected the senseless, reckless discrimination against transgender people that is the hallmark of the Trump Administration,” said Michelle Garcia, Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU of Illinois. “As a proud, vital member of the Illinois National Guard, who has served our state and this country honorably and proudly, neither LeAnne nor any other federal employee should be forced to use a restroom that is inconsistent with their gender identity.”
Today’s complaint filed to the National Guard Bureau Equal Opportunity Office can be found here.