A civil rights law firms says the Town of Cicero, Ill. has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by a transgender woman who claimed she was harassed by police officers.
The People’s Law Office said Tuesday that the town will adopt a policy outlining how police treat transgender people, and pay the woman $10,000.
Bianca Feliciano says she was illegally stopped, searched and verbally abused by two Cicero police officers in February 2011 while walking with another transgender woman.
Feliciano says she was threatened with jail for fraud after showing officers an official Illinois identification card indicating she was female. She says police also made crude remarks and said she wouldn’t be “the way she is” if she was properly disciplined.
Cicero officials did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
