After 10 months of litigation, a settlement agreement can now be filed in the transgender lawsuit against the UM System Board of Curators.
The plaintiff, a transgender minor identified as K.J., and the defendant filed a motion to submit a sealed settlement agreement on Wednesday. The motion was approved Thursday, allowing for resolution in the case.
As of now, it is unclear how a settlement might affect pre-existing minor patients at MU Health Care seeking gender-affirming care.
The original lawsuit was filed Nov. 16, 2023. Both sides requested that the agreement remain sealed and unavailable to the public once filed, as it contains “sensitive, confidential and personal information” involving a minor that the parties said is “not appropriate for dissemination in the public record.”
The Wednesday motion also states that the privacy interest of K.J. “outweighs the public’s right to access.”
The original lawsuit was filed on Nov. 16 on behalf of two transgender minorswhose gender-affirming care was stopped by a change to MU Health Care policy in August 2023.
A 2023 Missouri law prohibited transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care unless they were already receiving it. However, MU Health Care took its policy further and ceased providing all gender-affirming care to its pre-existing patients.
After this decision, K.J. and another plaintiff, J.C., filed the suit against the curators for discrimination based on their sex and disability status.
After an immunity claim from the curators in February 2024, the plaintiffs revised the complaint to include UM System President Mun Choi and Dean of the Missouri School of Medicine Richard J. Barohn as additional defendants.
At the same time, J.C. dismissed his claims and dropped out of the suit, as he turned 18 and gained access to the necessary medical care. Still underage, K.J. remained on the suit, but his demands to stop the MU policy were rescinded, as he was able to gain access to puberty-delaying injections under a different diagnosis.
However, the complaint states, MU policy would still prohibit K.J. from accessing testosterone injections to initiate masculine puberty. This would be the recommended next step in his care, and the complaint states it would need to begin in spring 2025.
When asked for a statement on the motion and future settlement, MU Health Care spokesperson Eric Maze said,“This case has been resolved through a mutual agreement.”
The attorney representing K.J. was unavailable for comment.
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