Court Cases

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County against Penn State Health, Penn State Health St. Joseph, and the Pennsylvania State University after a hospital in the Penn State Health network abruptly canceled a gender-affirming procedure less than 24 hours before the patient was scheduled to receive their care. Administrators at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center claimed the operation went against Catholic doctrine despite regularly performing similar procedures on cisgender men and women. Penn State Health is a network of public hospitals funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. EJ Stiles was scheduled for a medically necessary mastectomy when the procedure was canceled by hospital administrators because the procedure was in violation of the hospital’s “Catholic doctrine." The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and attorneys’ fees on behalf of Stiles and asks the court to declare that Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center’s actions violated their rights under the Equal Rights Amendment, equal protection provisions, and religious freedom provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a petition to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the Pennsylvania Human Relation Commission’s (PHRC) definition of sex discrimination as it applies to gender diverse Pennsylvanians. The litigation stems from a patient of Penn Health being denied gender-affirming care. EJ Stiles was scheduled for a gender-affirming surgery at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center that had been months in the works. Mr. Stiles had been referred to a surgeon who had operating privileges at Penn State Health St. Joseph and had followed all the necessary steps ahead of the surgery. Just 13 hours before the scheduled surgery, the hospital informed Stiles that the surgery was cancelled because it was “against the Catholic Diocese. While Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center at one point was a private hospital (previously St. Joseph Medical Center), it is now a public institution under the auspices of Penn State Health. Thus, the hospital’s invocation of the Catholic Diocese was a violation of the First Amendment. In January 2025, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a complaint with the PHRC on behalf of Stiles. In response, Penn State Health St. Joseph sued the PHRC in Commonwealth Court seeking to establish a religious exemption to the anti-discrimination protections of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and invalidate PHRC regulations that define sex discrimination to include discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression. Even after PHRC dismissed the Stiles’ complaint, Penn State Health moved ahead with its lawsuit against the PHRC, seeking to invalidate PHRC’s regulations regarding sex discrimination.

The ACLU of PA and the law firm LeVan Stapleton Segal Cochran LLC filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of teacher Andrew Burgess against the Central Bucks School District.

On October 6, 2022, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education on behalf of seven students in Central Bucks School District who allege a culture of discrimination against LGBQ&T students, particularly trans and nonbinary students.