Domestic partner benefits OK’d by Utah court

[papau]

http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=7772

Domestic partner benefits OK’d by Utah court
by Joanne Wojcik
Posted on May 22, 2006 2:38 PM CST

SALT LAKE CITY—An ordinance extending health benefits to the domestic partners of Salt Lake City employees does not violate a 2004 state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, a court has ruled.


Utah District Court Judge Stephen L. Roth ruled that the Adult Designee Benefit, which Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson signed into law Sept. 21, 2005, does not appear to create "any legal status, rights, benefits or duties that are substantially equivalent to those provided under Utah law to a man and a woman because they are married."
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FYI: The Adult Designee Benefit had been challenged in September by the Utah State Retirement Board (the Utah state agency that provides insurance to state workers and those of Salt Lake City asked the court to decide if the Mayor’s ordinance violated the state’s Defense of Marriage Law) which also administers health benefits for city employees. The court noted that health benefits are not a perquisite of marriage, but of employment.

The Adult Designee Benefit took effect March 3, 2006 and extends employee health insurance benefits to an employee’s dependents, including spouse and children and the "adult designee" of an unmarried employee, as well as the children of the adult designee, according to Business Insurance.

[eyesroll]

1. Wow...Utah...go figure.

I like the "adult designee" language -- it takes marriage (regardless of gender) right out of the equasion. If your parent lives with you and is supported by you or supports you (or contributes substantially to your household), the parent could be the designee. Sounds like a nanny could be a designee too.

[nickinSTL]

2. I agree, really good wording there

n/t

[papau]

3. I thought it a neat way around "defense of marriage" act! :-)

:-)

[GodlessBiker]

4. What a nice surprise.

[doublejeopardy]

5. Great!

Wow - some smartness to finally come out of Utah.