BREAKING NEWS

 
 

CASE HIGHLIGHT: MIRABELLI & WEST v. OLSON

 

Media Coverage:

Fox News: Middle school teacher issues dire warning amid claims she was forced to hide student's gender identity

KUSI: Judge blocks Escondido school district’s controversial transgender student privacy policy

CBN: ‘Dangerous Policies’: Teacher Who Refuses to Lie to Parents About Kids’ Gender Identities Wins Major Victory

Two middle school teachers sued officials with the Escondido Union School District (EUSD) and the California Department of Education over a policy that forces them to hide a student's gender identity and 'social transition' from their parents.


LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys, as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, successfully convinced the court to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the offensive policy while the case is under court consideration.


The court stated that "[t]he school’s policy is a trifecta of harm," because it harms children, parents, and teachers.


READ THE ORDER

 

Open Letter Responding to California Attorney General's Misleading "Guidance" to Schools

Following LiMandri & Jonna LLP’s victory in Mirabelli & West v. Olson, Attorney General Rob Bonta published misleading guidance to school districts concerning the federal district court’s preliminary injunction order. In response, on September 27, 2023, LiMandri & Jonna LLP partner, Paul Jonna, published an open letter for the benefit of school districts which identified how Attorney General Bonta’s guidance was “incorrect in myriad ways.”

EXCLUSIVE: California AG Defies Court Order on Transgender Parental Notification, Lawyers Say

 

LAYLA JANE v. KAISER

 

Former Transgender Teen Sues Kaiser

Watch: The Disruptive Reality of Child Transition | Layla Jane

LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys, as co-counsel with the Center for American Liberty, represent Layla Jane–a brave, young, former transgender woman who is suing Kaiser Permanente and her doctors for medical negligence (like our other client Chloe Cole).

Ms. Layla Jane (a pseudonym to protect her privacy) was pressured into a medical transgender transition without being given adequate mental or physical health care as a child. She was prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone at age 12 and at age 13 underwent a double mastectomy. As a result of her unwarranted gender transition, she has suffered irreversible harm.

Above: Layla in the hospital for double mastectomy at age 13

READ THE COMPLAINT

Lawyer for detransitioning woman, 18, who had surgery aged 13 slams doctors at Kaiser

Woman pressured into breast removal at 13 under ‘erroneous belief’ she was transgender: lawsuit

Detransitioner Joins Chloe Cole, Sues Major Medical Provider For Child Gender Transition


 

HEIN v. UNMC PHYSICIANS

Above: Luka Hein testifies before the Nebraska Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 8, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys, as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, along with the Center for American Liberty and Nebraska malpractice attorney Jeff Downing, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of Luka Hein, against physicians at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

On July 26, 2018, the Lincoln, Nebraska hospital and its named doctors performed a double mastectomy on Hein—then only 16 years old—after only two doctor appointments.


“Even the most militant transgender activists who are pushing this radical agenda on children, do not presume to go so far as to rush minors into surgery as their first treatment option,” stated Charles LiMandri. “In pursuing this legal action against these reckless defendants, Luka Hein is a courageous young woman who is seeking to help other vulnerable minors avoid suffering a similar terrible fate.”

READ MORE
 

COLE v. KAISER

 

ROGERS v. COMPASS GROUP

Employee Sues for Religious Discrimination and Wrongful Termination

Courtney Rogers, a former employee of one of the world’s largest corporations, Compass Group USA, is suing the company for religious discrimination and wrongful termination.


On July 24, 2023, LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys, as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, filed a lawsuit in the federal Southern District of California on behalf of Ms. Rogers. She was fired after refusing to endorse, promote, or participate in a program that blatantly discriminated against white men on the basis of race and gender.

READ MORE
 

CASE UPDATES

Victory for San Diego Church Against California Abortion-Coverage Mandate


LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys, as co-counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, brought a lawsuit on behalf of Skyline Wesleyan Church in 2016, which challenged California’s abortion health insurance coverage mandate. That mandate required all health insurance plans to cover elective abortion, with no exception for the employer's religious beliefs.


After a successful appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the court in the federal Southern District of California accepted the parties' stipulated judgment and entered a permanent injunction in support of the church’s freedom to operate according to their religious beliefs. As a result, California was ordered to pay $900,000 in attorneys' fees to Skyline Wesleyan Church.

READ MORE
 

FEE AWARDS

Defamation Defense Attorneys' Fee Award

LiMandri & Jonna LLP successfully defended Stephen Brady, the watchdog group Roman Catholic Faithful (RCF), and abuse victim Ryan Gilligan, in two lawsuits brought by Craig Harrison, a de-frocked Catholic priest who accused them of defamation after sexual abuse allegations against him were brought to light.

Attorneys' fees were awarded in both cases, totaling over $315,000.

Judge finds ex-priest must pay attorneys fees in defamation suit

$219K in attorney fees awarded in ex-priest Harrison lawsuit

CALIFORNIA v. TASTRIES BAKERY

CA State Ordered to Pay $3.6 Million to Tastries Bakery in Attorneys' Fees

Tastries Bakery was awarded over $3.6 million in attorney fees after LiMandri & Jonna LLP attorneys successfully defended Cathy Miller and Tastries Bakery from a lawsuit brought by the California Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment & Housing) that threatened the closure of Miller's bakery.

The case was brought by California after Miller explained to a lesbian couple that her faith prevented her from making their wedding cake, but that she could connect them with another bakery.


After a bench trial was held last October, the Judge ruled in favor of Miller.


In March 2023, the Court ordered that California state must pay Miller $3,624,011.50 in attorneys' fees.

Above: Charles LiMandri & Paul Jonna at the California v. Tastries Bakery trial

 
 

Paul Jonna Presents Legatus Defender of the Faith Award to Mark Houck

Earlier this year, Paul Jonna presented pro-life hero, Mark Houck, with the Defender of the Faith Award at the 2023 Legatus Summit held in Orlando, FL.


Houck was arrested by the FBI in September 2022 after defending his 12 year old son from an attack by a pro-abortion activist while sidewalk counseling outside of an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. Houck was charged with violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.


The Thomas More Society represented Houck, who was later acquitted of the charge in January 2023.

 

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