Is It Legally Discriminatory to Not Offer Opposite-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits?
Answered by Daryl Herrschaft, deputy director for WorkNet for the Human Rights Campaign. Dec. 6, 2004.
Q: Dear Daryl,
A friend of mine recently had her benefits reduced based on her sexual orientation. She is heterosexual and her domestic partner was covered under the company’s same- and opposite-sex domestic partner benefits policy. The company then changed its benefits policy to cover only same-sex domestic partners. Is this decision discriminatory?
anonymous
A: All of the court cases that have been brought against private employers who offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners and not opposite-sex domestic partners have found that those policies are not discriminatory under current law. If your employer had been a private entity in a state that had a non-discrimination law that included sexual orientation, then you might have had more standing.