Transgender Woman Settles Lawsuit for $10,000

A transgender woman who said Cicero, Illinois police officers harassed and humiliated her has settled a lawsuit for $10,000  along with a pledge that the town will adopt a policy for dealing respectfully with transgender people, her attorney said.

The policy would place Cicero in select company as one of the first metropolitan police departments to formally spell out such guidelines, according to attorneys for Bianca Feliciano, who filed the suit.

Bianca said two police officers illegally stopped and searched her and a transgender friend in 2011 as they walked down a Cicero street. The officers allegedly taunted her and her friend, accusing them of being sex workers.

Police threatened to arrest Bianca for fraud, she said, after she presented an Illinois identification card that listed her as female. The suit alleged that the town’s lack of a policy for dealing with transgender people led to the officer’s poor conduct.

Other cities such as New York City and Los Angeles, have adopted transgender policies. Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said the town maintains that its officers did not do anything wrong in the arrest of Feliciano, but the settlement was preferable to a lengthy court fight.