Post by irenetheserene on Sept 2, 2004 16:33:01 GMT -6
Posted on Thu, Sep. 02, 2004
Pitt agrees to offer same-sex benefits starting next year
By Mike Crissey
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh has agreed to offer health benefits to same-sex partners, ending eight years of legal wrangling over coverage for employees.
The state-affiliated university's decision to offer benefits to same-sex partners was included in an eight-page memo sent to employees Wednesday. The benefits will be offered starting Jan. 1.
In the memo, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg cited competition for workers rather than a 1996 lawsuit filed by seven employees who alleged that they were being discriminated against.
"Like virtually every other employer, the university continues to face significant challenges on the health insurance front. Market forces in play for the past several years have placed increasing pressure on both employers and employees," Nordenberg wrote. "... Speaking more personally, most of us probably have friends of relatives who lack coverage."
Nordenberg also noted that 80 percent of schools in the Association of American Universities offer domestic partner benefits and two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies also extend the benefits to domestic partners. Both are potential competitors for University of Pittsburgh employees, he said.
"In taking this step, Pitt becomes the first of Pennsylvania's state-related universities to offer subsidized health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of its employees," Nordenberg said.
According to a report this year by the Human Rights Campaign, in 2003 there were 196 colleges and universities offering some form of domestic partner benefits, up from 182 in 2002; the number included Drexel and Temple universities in Philadelphia.
The University of Iowa began offering same-sex benefits in 1993 and found that the cost of insuring gay couples to be less than that of insuring heterosexual couples, according to university officials there.
An internal study by Pitt found that it would cost less than 1 percent of current spending to extend health care to gay and lesbian partners.
The decision resolves a lawsuit stemming from a complaint filed by former Pitt employee Deborah Henson with the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations alleging that the school violated the city's 1990 gay-rights law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. Six other peoples later joined her in a class-action lawsuit.
In 2000, Pitt won an injunction from Allegheny County Judge Robert Gallo to bar the commission from hearing the lawsuit on the basis that the city law exceeded the scope of the state's Human Relations Act. The school also noted that a state law passed in 1999 exempted public universities from local laws that mandate that health benefits be extended to domestic partners.
In January, Allegheny County Judge Robert Gallo permanently barred the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations from hearing the complaint, saying they have no jurisdiction to hear the dispute.
Witold Walczak, litigation director for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the employees, hailed the school's decision.
"This is a marvelous day not only for university employees but for the school itself and human rights generally," Walczak said. "... Regardless of how someone may feel personally or morally about the issue, in 2004, it is an economic imperative to treat all employees equally and fairly."
Pitt agrees to offer same-sex benefits starting next year
By Mike Crissey
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH - The University of Pittsburgh has agreed to offer health benefits to same-sex partners, ending eight years of legal wrangling over coverage for employees.
The state-affiliated university's decision to offer benefits to same-sex partners was included in an eight-page memo sent to employees Wednesday. The benefits will be offered starting Jan. 1.
In the memo, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg cited competition for workers rather than a 1996 lawsuit filed by seven employees who alleged that they were being discriminated against.
"Like virtually every other employer, the university continues to face significant challenges on the health insurance front. Market forces in play for the past several years have placed increasing pressure on both employers and employees," Nordenberg wrote. "... Speaking more personally, most of us probably have friends of relatives who lack coverage."
Nordenberg also noted that 80 percent of schools in the Association of American Universities offer domestic partner benefits and two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies also extend the benefits to domestic partners. Both are potential competitors for University of Pittsburgh employees, he said.
"In taking this step, Pitt becomes the first of Pennsylvania's state-related universities to offer subsidized health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of its employees," Nordenberg said.
According to a report this year by the Human Rights Campaign, in 2003 there were 196 colleges and universities offering some form of domestic partner benefits, up from 182 in 2002; the number included Drexel and Temple universities in Philadelphia.
The University of Iowa began offering same-sex benefits in 1993 and found that the cost of insuring gay couples to be less than that of insuring heterosexual couples, according to university officials there.
An internal study by Pitt found that it would cost less than 1 percent of current spending to extend health care to gay and lesbian partners.
The decision resolves a lawsuit stemming from a complaint filed by former Pitt employee Deborah Henson with the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations alleging that the school violated the city's 1990 gay-rights law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. Six other peoples later joined her in a class-action lawsuit.
In 2000, Pitt won an injunction from Allegheny County Judge Robert Gallo to bar the commission from hearing the lawsuit on the basis that the city law exceeded the scope of the state's Human Relations Act. The school also noted that a state law passed in 1999 exempted public universities from local laws that mandate that health benefits be extended to domestic partners.
In January, Allegheny County Judge Robert Gallo permanently barred the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations from hearing the complaint, saying they have no jurisdiction to hear the dispute.
Witold Walczak, litigation director for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the employees, hailed the school's decision.
"This is a marvelous day not only for university employees but for the school itself and human rights generally," Walczak said. "... Regardless of how someone may feel personally or morally about the issue, in 2004, it is an economic imperative to treat all employees equally and fairly."
