Lambda Legal files suit to prevent Ariz. from stripping domestic partner benefits
From Lambda Legal:
(Tuscon, Ariz.) Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tucson to block a move to strip domestic partner benefits from gay and lesbian state employees. Arizona lawmakers included a provision stripping domestic partner health benefits from state employees as part of a last-minute budget deal signed by Governor Jan Brewer in September, while retaining spousal health benefits for heterosexual workers.
Lambda Legal represents 10 state employees – including from the Arizona Highway Patrol, the State Department of Game and Fish, and state universities – who rely on health benefits from their employers to keep their families safe.
“This is an issue of equal pay for equal work,” said Tara Borelli, staff attorney for Lambda Legal. ”By stripping away these vital benefits from loyal state employees, the state isn’t just paying them less for the same work than their heterosexual colleagues — it’s pulling away a vital lifeline that all workers need. This is simply cruel and saves the state next to nothing.”
http://www.365gay.com/news/lambda-legal-files-suit-to-prevent-ariz-from-stripping-domestic-partner-benefits/