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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →A federal judge in New Hampshire has allowed Lillian Bernier’s Title VII sex-discrimination claim against Turbocam to proceed toward trial over the company’s refusal to cover gender-affirming care. The court did not find that Turbocam discriminated: it denied summary judgment to both sides on that claim. Turbocam did win summary judgment on Bernier’s separate Americans with Disabilities Act claim.
What Judge McCafferty decided
In an order dated September 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty resolved cross-motions for summary judgment in Lillian Bernier v. Turbocam, Inc., Civil No. 23-cv-523-LM-AJ, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Bernier, a transgender woman who worked for Turbocam, alleged that the company discriminated against her by refusing health-insurance coverage for gender-affirming care. Read the court’s September 28 order.
The judge concluded that a factfinder could reasonably determine that denying the coverage discriminated against Bernier because of sex. But the court also found unresolved factual questions, so it denied Bernier’s request for summary judgment as well as Turbocam’s request on the Title VII claim. Title VII Count I is the only count left for trial.
Surviving a motion is not a finding of liability
Summary judgment is a decision about whether a claim can be resolved without a trial on the record before the court. By denying Turbocam’s motion on Count I, Judge McCafferty allowed the claim to continue; she did not decide that the company is liable. Nor did denial of Bernier’s motion establish that she had proved discrimination. Those questions remain for further proceedings.
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Why the court rejected Turbocam’s religious-liberty arguments at this stage
Turbocam relied on two distinct protections: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), a federal statute, and the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The court considered them separately as grounds for summary judgment on Bernier’s Title VII claim.
RFRA
The court concluded that RFRA did not provide Turbocam a defense in this private-party Title VII suit. Judge McCafferty wrote: “For all of these reasons, the court concludes as a matter of law that RFRA provides no defense to Turbocam against Bernier’s Title VII claim.” That is the district court’s conclusion in this case, not a ruling about every religious-liberty defense an employer might raise.
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Free Exercise Clause
On the constitutional argument, the court treated Title VII as a neutral law of general applicability. It also noted that Turbocam had not developed an argument that Title VII was unrelated to a legitimate government interest. The order therefore concluded that the Free Exercise argument did not entitle the company to summary judgment on Bernier’s claim. The ruling addresses the argument as presented in this case; it should not be read as resolving every possible employer Free Exercise defense.
Turbocam won summary judgment on the ADA claim
The court separately granted Turbocam summary judgment on Bernier’s ADA Count IV. It concluded that the ADA statutory provision cited in the order barred her claim as presented. That outcome is distinct from the Title VII ruling: the ADA count will not proceed, while Title VII Count I remains for trial.
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What happens next
The September 28 order directed the parties to submit a new joint proposed scheduling order within 14 days and to consult the court’s case manager about a trial date the court could accommodate. The order itself does not establish whether a trial date was later set or whether either party sought further review. For the latest procedural status, consult the case docket.
PinkNews reported on the ruling on October 2, 2026.
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