Gender Justice
Gender Justice is a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded by accomplished plaintiffs’ attorneys ten years ago, Gender Justice’s mission is to advance gender equity through the law. Gender Justice’s programs, strategic and impact litigation, policy advocacy, education, and movement building work to fight gender discrimination and add protections to our civil rights. Gender Justice advocates for new policies and laws that work to improve the ways the United States addresses gender injustice and acts as a resource for lawmakers hoping to gain a stronger understanding of gender rights and equality.
THE CASE
-
Andrea Anderson vs. Grand St. Paul CVS, LLC dba CVS Pharmacy #10397; CVS Health Corporation; CVS Pharmacy, Inc.; Aitkin Pharmacy Services, LLC dba Thrifty White Pharmacy; CVS Pharmacist #1; George Badeaux
Gender Justice is representing a rural Minnesota woman who was forced to contact three pharmacies and travel over 100 miles in blizzard conditions to fill her emergency contraception prescription. In 2019, Gender Justice filed a complaint on behalf of this individual who was denied service by pharmacists at two pharmacies in rural Minnesota - the McGregor Thrifty White and Aitkin CVS - when she sought to fill a prescription for emergency contraception in January 2019. The complaint filed in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District states that her experience constitutes illegal discrimination based on sex and that denying her service based on her pregnancy-related health care needs violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
CASE UPDATES SINCE GRANT YEAR
-
On January 18, 2022, we were to begin a jury trial against Thrifty White and George Badeaux, the pharmacist, who refused to fill the Plaintiff’s prescription for Emergency Contraception. A new trial date has been set for August 1, 2022.
We believe that we will be successful at trial. The question is whether the pharmacy denied Plaintiff’s full and equal enjoyment of their goods and services because of her sex. “Sex” under the Minnesota Human Rights Act includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. It would thus include emergency contraception.
The pharmacy owner was fully aware that its chief pharmacist was refusing to fill emergency contraception prescriptions before he refused to fill Plaintiff’s prescription. The pharmacy put no measures in place to ensure that the Plaintiff and others like her with an emergency contraception prescription can get the medication they need in a timely manner.
We expect that this case will set an important precedent about the rights of pharmacy patients to access care with no barriers. The precedent will be important for all pregnancy-related care, including abortion care.
