Chloe Cole’s lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente is a medical malpractice and fraud case filed in February 2023 in San Joaquin County Superior Court, alleging that Kaiser providers coerced her and her parents into puberty blockers, testosterone, and a double mastectomy when she was a minor. The case, Brockman v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (case number STK-CV-UMM-2023-0001612), survived Kaiser’s push to force it into arbitration and is now set for trial on April 5, 2027.
What Cole Says Happened Inside Kaiser
Cole was diagnosed with gender dysphoria at 12 and began treatment through Kaiser soon after. According to her court filings and congressional testimony, she was prescribed puberty blockers, started testosterone injections at 13, and underwent a double mastectomy at 15. She detransitioned at 17.
The complaint alleges that Kaiser’s medical team pressured Cole’s parents into agreeing to the treatments by warning that she was at high risk of suicide, telling them, “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?” Cole has described the choice presented to her family as a false one and has said her underlying conditions, including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, were never adequately explored before hormones and surgery were recommended.
She has also described lasting physical effects: a deeper voice, changes to her bone structure, uncertain fertility, an inability to breastfeed, and scarring and complications from skin grafts related to the mastectomy.
The Legal Claims
The defendants are The Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, along with the individual providers involved in Cole’s care. The complaint groups its allegations into three main claims:
- Fraudulent misrepresentation: doctors allegedly told Cole and her family that her gender dysphoria would not resolve on its own and that medical transition was the only effective treatment.
- Failure to inform: providers allegedly did not disclose that gender dysphoria resolves without medical intervention in a majority of adolescents and did not present non-invasive alternatives such as psychotherapy.
- Medical malpractice: providers allegedly performed experimental, off-label treatments on a minor without adequate informed consent and without properly evaluating her underlying psychological conditions.
On April 19, 2024, Cole’s lawyers filed a motion for punitive damages under California Civil Code Section 3294, arguing that the defendants acted with “malice, oppression and fraud.” The motion was backed by a declaration from Dr. Robin Dea, a former Chair of the Chiefs of Psychiatry and Regional Director of Mental Health Services at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Dr. Dea’s 17-page report concluded that Cole’s initial mental health clinicians failed to conduct a complete evaluation of her core gender identity before recommending hormones, and that she did not see a gender specialist until two years after her initial clinical presentation and 18 months after starting puberty blockers.
The Arbitration Fight Cole Won
The most consequential ruling so far has been on where the case will be heard. Kaiser moved to force the dispute into private arbitration, pointing to an arbitration clause in a union health plan that Cole’s mother, Jocelyn Brockman, had signed in 2005.
In April 2024, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Robert T. Waters denied Kaiser’s motion, finding that the defendants had not shown that Cole’s mother had actually agreed to the specific arbitration terms they were trying to enforce. Kaiser sought reconsideration in May 2024, and that motion was also denied.
Kaiser appealed. On September 19, 2025, a three-justice panel of the California Third District Court of Appeal affirmed. Justice Elena J. Duarte wrote the opinion, joined by Justices Harry E. Hull Jr. and Ronald B. Robie. The panel held that Kaiser had failed to submit copies of the actual arbitration agreements it sought to enforce and had never produced a document bearing Brockman’s signature agreeing to those specific terms. Enrollment forms referencing external documents that were never provided to the court, the panel said, were not enough to compel arbitration.
That ruling keeps the case in open court.
Where the Case Stands Now
The case is in discovery. Cole’s team has filed a motion to compel Kaiser to answer 121 special interrogatories seeking broad data about patients who received or were denied gender-affirming care through Kaiser. The defendants have resisted, calling the requests “vague and irrelevant.” A case management conference was scheduled for July 22, 2026, to work through the outstanding discovery disputes. The trial date was set on February 18, 2026, for April 5, 2027.
Who Is Representing Cole
Cole is represented by the Dhillon Law Group and LiMandri & Jonna LLP, working with the Center for American Liberty. Harmeet Dhillon, the Center’s CEO and founder, has been the primary public spokesperson for the legal effort. Charles LiMandri of LiMandri & Jonna LLP is also a lead attorney on the case.
The same team has filed a parallel suit against Kaiser in San Joaquin County on behalf of Layla Jane, who alleges she was placed on puberty blockers and testosterone at 12 and underwent a double mastectomy at 13. Her complaint raises nearly identical theories about informed consent failures and coercion.
Kaiser’s Response
Kaiser has said it cannot discuss the specifics of Cole’s case because of patient privacy laws. In general terms, the company has said it “provides patient-centered gender-affirming care that is consistent with the standards of medical care and excellence” and that its care is “founded on sound research and best medical practices.” Kaiser has not conceded any of the allegations in the complaint.
How Cole’s Case Fits the Broader Litigation
Cole’s suit is one of a growing set of detransitioner malpractice cases. A 2025 analysis published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open identified 16 such cases filed in the United States, nearly all after 2022. Every complaint in the study cited improper mental health evaluation, and about 88% involved allegations tied to transgender hormone therapy. As of February 2025, none of those 16 suits had produced a court-ordered damages award.
The first verdict came in January 2026, in a different case. A jury in Westchester County Supreme Court in White Plains, New York, awarded 22-year-old Fox Varian $2 million, finding that psychologist Kenneth Einhorn and plastic surgeon Simon Chin failed to obtain adequate consent and rushed Varian’s transition. Varian had undergone a double mastectomy in 2019 at age 16. The award included $1.6 million for pain and suffering and $400,000 for future medical expenses. Cole’s case, if it reaches a jury on the current schedule, will be tried against that backdrop.