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ACLU Hails 'Significant' Ruling that Dismisses Challenge of Gainesville
Policy Granting Equal Benefits to Domestic Partners of City Employees
November 15, 2000
GAINESVILLE ? In a victory for equal benefits regardless of sexual orientation, an Alachua County Circuit Court upheld the legality of Gainesville's policy extending health benefits to the same- and opposite-sex unmarried partners of city employees.
In a four-page ruling issued this week, Circuit Court Judge Stan R. Morris dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel that sought to invalidate the city policy on behalf of Gainesville resident Jack Martin. The lawsuit cited Martin's own personal religious and moral objections to the policy.
The decision dismissing the case cited Martin's lack of legal "standing," or ability to show that he was impacted by the policy. Significantly, the ruling went on to say that even if Martin had grounds to file the lawsuit, Judge Morris would rule against him. The ruling cited a recent Fourth District Court of Appeal decision upholding the constitutionality of a similar Broward County ordinance. That case, Lowe v. Broward County, examined the constitutionality of a Broward County policy offering domestic partners benefits similar to those outlined in the Gainesville's Domestic Partnership Act.
"This is an important victory for fundamental fairness," said Gainesville attorney Gary S. Edinger, who filed a "friend-of-the-court" brief supporting the policy in September on behalf of the ACLU of Florida and the national organization's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "If the City of Gainesville's domestic partner benefit program was struck down, every similar program by a government employer in Florida, whether a hospital, university, county or municipality, would have been at risk."
Following the lead of dozens of other employers across the country, the City of Gainesville revised its health benefits policy in August 1999, extending benefits to same and opposite sex domestic partners of city employees. The benefits, which became available in April, include COBRA-like extensions of coverage, sick leave benefits, and bereavement leave pay for domestic partners of city employees. In order to receive the benefits, employees must sign an affidavit certifying, among other things, that they've lived with their partner for at least 12 months.
The Human Rights Council of North Central Florida also joined with the ACLU in its amicus brief, which argued that the city's policy does not attempt to create a new marital status, as Martin claimed, rather it recognizes the economic interdependence of domestic partners.
For an on-line version of the amicus brief, click here.
