a christian factory owner kept calling his trans employee "him" under oath. that is why she gets a trial now. thank you, sir.

via the court's order in Bernier v. Turbocam, Law360 and PinkNews

The most damaging witness against Turbocam turned out to be the man who owns it.

Marian Noronha runs the Barrington, New Hampshire, aerospace parts maker with his wife Suzie. Asked about his employee Lillian Bernier under oath, he "repeatedly referred to Bernier using male pronouns," kept calling her "him" after her lawyers asked him to stop, testified that she is not a woman, and said she changed her name because she is "in denial," according to the 56-page ruling U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty issued on Sept. 28. He also said he would "not use the word 'health'" to describe treatment for gender dysphoria.

That testimony is now the reason Bernier gets a trial. "There is evidence from which a jury could find that Turbocam's owner harbored personal animus toward Bernier because of her transgender status," McCafferty wrote.

what the ruling did

Bernier sued in 2023 after Turbocam refused to cover her vaginoplasty and, later, her therapy. The company had switched in January 2021 to a self-funded health plan that excludes "gender dysphoria treatment," and the order says Turbocam made the switch partly so it could drop coverage that conflicted with the Noronhas' faith. The court notes it is undisputed that cost, safety and medical efficacy played no role.

McCafferty denied Turbocam's motion for summary judgment on Bernier's Title VII sex-discrimination claim, the only count left for trial, and granted it on her disability claim, holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act's old exclusion for "gender identity disorders" covers gender dysphoria. Bernier's own bid to win outright was also denied. PinkNews headlined it as a bid to dismiss; it was a summary judgment motion, decided after discovery, which Law360 got closer to with "can't end." The parties have 14 days to propose a trial schedule.

the religious defense, rejected twice

Turbocam argued its owners' faith exempted the plan. The Justice Department backed that argument in a 2025 statement of interest. The judge held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act cannot be used as a defense in a lawsuit between private parties, and that Title VII "is a neutral law of general applicability," so the free exercise argument fails too. She also rejected the company's reliance on the Supreme Court's 2025 Skrmetti decision, noting that case was about equal protection, not workplace discrimination.

It is not a verdict. The order is careful to say a jury could also side with Turbocam, which used Bernier's new name and pronouns, had a supervisor warn a coworker who misgendered her, and has promoted her twice. That is the company's best fact, and it will make it loudly. The problem is that the man who signs off on the health plan is not on the same page as his own HR department, and he said so under oath.