WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court refused to consider shielding employers from discrimination lawsuits by transsexuals, dodging a workplace rights fight.

The court’s refusal to intervene leaves in place a victory for Cincinnati police officer Philecia Barnes, who was born Phillip Barnes.

A federal appeals court had upheld a jury’s finding that Barnes was a victim of discrimination, under a federal civil rights law. The city had been ordered to pay the officer $320,000, and pay another $550,000 in attorney fees.

“It’s an important victory for Philecia Barnes, and it’s an important statement to the city of Cincinnati,” said Barnes’ attorney, Al Gerhardstein.

“The city waged a long and vigorous fight to win the right to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. They risked a lot and lost.”

Barnes, a 24-year veteran of the Cincinnati police force, dressed as a man at work but as a woman during off-hours in 1999 when the officer was demoted. Barnes sometimes wore make-up to work and had manicured nails.

Richard Ganulin, one of the city attorneys, told justices in briefs that employers should be protected from discrimination lawsuits based on “transsexual and homosexual characteristics.” The city maintains the demotion was for professional reasons.

A spokesperson for the city’s law department did not immediately return calls seeking additional comment.

At issue was the scope of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts, which protects people from sex or race discrimination. Sexual orientation is not covered in the law, but justices were asked to deal with a related issue: sex stereotyping of transsexual workers.

The case would have been a follow-up to a 1989 Supreme Court decision that made it more difficult for employers to win lawsuits accusing them of sexual stereotyping and other bias. That case involved a woman who argued she was denied promotion because her supervisors thought she did not act feminine enough.

There are no good estimates about the number of transgender workers in the United States because of their fears of going public, said Lambda Legal attorney Cole Thaler.

“Trans employees are particularly vulnerable to harassment and discrimination because they deviate from employers’ ideas of what men and women are supposed to look and act like,” said Thaler, a lawyer with the gay-rights group, which is not involved in the Barnes case.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said that Barnes was subjected to an unusual daily evaluation by other sergeants and required to wear a microphone at all times.

Barnes contended that her intention to change her gender was the only reason for her demotion from sergeant to patrol officer during her six-month probationary period. City lawyers had argued that Barnes’ grammar, time management and paperwork were not adequate.

A federal court jury had ordered the city to reinstate her and pay her damages. Barnes could have returned to her old job as a sergeant but decided instead to take a $140,000 payment and return as a patrol officer.