Hecker Fink Files Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Behalf of Prof. William N. Eskridge, Jr. in Support of Transgender Student Respondent in West Virginia, et al. v. B.P.J.

On November 17, 2025, Hecker Fink LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of Professor William N. Eskridge Jr., the Alexander M. Bickel Professor of Public Law at Yale Law School, in support of the transgender student respondent in the U.S. Supreme Court case West Virginia v. B.P.J.

The brief, which can be read here, argues that Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded educational programs and activities includes discrimination against transgender persons. Applying the statute’s plain meaning, the brief explains that an individual’s transgender status cannot be separated from their sex. As such, discrimination based on transgender status is necessarily discrimination “on the basis of sex” under Title IX. The brief illustrates this point by analogizing transgender discrimination to discrimination based on racial self-identification under Title VI and discrimination against religious converts under Title VII. The brief also draws on the Supreme Court’s precedents recognizing Title IX claims for retaliation and harassment to show that Title IX prohibits diverse forms of sex-based discrimination, including applications of the statute that were not explicitly contemplated by Congress at the time of enactment.

The Hecker Fink team includes Trisha Anderson, Clara Spera, Madeline Verniero, Noelle Wyman, and Jared Hirschfield.