MSU has come up with a solution to the Michigan Court of Appeals decision to revoke same-sex domestic partnership benefits.
The university introduced a pilot program that will allow all employees to continue to receive benefits, said Pam Beemer, assistant vice president for MSU Human Resources, in a statement. The program will be launched July 1, and will change the eligibility requirements for an individual to participate in the university's health and dental plans.
Benefits titled "MSU-recognized same-sex domestic partnership" will no longer be found in open enrollment materials.
However, there will be a reference to an other eligible individual, or OEI.
A nonrepresented MSU employee may enroll one OEI that meets the following requirements: The OEI has lived in the same residence of the employee for at least 18 continuous months, is not defined by the International Revenue Service as a dependent and is not eligible to inherit from the employee.
Spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, renters, boarders and tenants of MSU employees are not eligible for the pilot program.
More than 50 employees are currently relying on domestic partnership benefits.
"The pilot program was developed by MSU Human Resources working in close consultation with a group of university employees with legal, financial and human resources expertise," Beemer said.
After the passage of Proposal 2 - an amendment to the state constitution that prohibited same-sex marriage - Attorney General Mike Cox issued a legal opinion that stated public employers could no longer offer same-sex couples domestic partnership benefits. It was challenged in court by a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. A court order from the Michigan Supreme Court stated that public institutions and universities must stop offering same-sex domestic partnership benefits while it proceeds with determining the effects of Proposal 2.
MSU employees Rebecca Allen and Kitty O'Neil are two plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit. The couple is covered under the Coalition of Labor Organizations - meaning their health and dental benefits agreement will be honored by MSU until Dec. 31, 2009.
"(The university) has put a lot of time and effort into this to make this a place people will be attracted to," said Allen, an employee at Olin Health Center.
Allen and O'Neil, who is a research assistant in the plant and crop soil science department, are using shared benefits.
Prior to Allen's employment at MSU about three years ago, she had to rely on O'Neil's same-sex domestic partnership benefits for about six months.
Cox has interpreted the issue as a marriage issue instead of a worker's issue, Allen said.
"Any worker in the state should be concerned about this. It's not about marriage - it's not about any of those types of issues," she said. "It's about what you and your employer negotiate."
Although Harold Beer doesn't rely on same-sex domestic partnership benefits, he said it's still an issue that directly affects him.
"We're all part of a community," said the engineer, who works for MSU.
Beer said people who don't support same-sex domestic partnerships will not be fooled by the language change.
"I expect to see more court challenges," he said.
Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said the program is something Bishop would have to review before knowing if MSU is violating any laws.
"We'd have to take a look at it and see how it lays out," he said.
Given the budget crisis in the state, Beer said the legislature and court should have more important things to do than denying benefits to a small group of people.
"It's really not sitting well with me," Beer said. "What gives heterosexual couples the right to have all the special treatment they've had over the years?"
The new language of the program is something that should have been used all along, Allen said.
"They're defining family based on what families do for each other," she said. "It's a nice way to make sure that employees can take care of those who are important to them."
Colleen Maxwell can be reached at maxwel79@msu.edu.
