New Delhi, Dec. 23 -- A transgender employee of the National Security Agency has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of a sweeping executive order issued by Donald Trump, arguing that the directive and subsequent agency policies unlawfully erase her gender identity and violate long-established US civil rights protections.

The case raises a broader legal question with national implications: how far can executive power go before it collides with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

The plaintiff, Sarah O'Neill, is a data scientist at the NSA who is transgender. In a lawsuit filed on Monday in the US District Court in Maryland, O'Neill challenges a presidential executive order signed by Trump on Inauguration Day that dir...