Partner Benefits

Donald W. Heyrich

Some employers that offer domestic partner benefits restrict those benefits to same-sex couples. Last year, the Washington Legislature amended the Washington Law Against Discrimination to include sexual orientation among the protected classifications upon which an employer may not discriminate. Following this change, some employees have argued that providing benefits to same sex couples but not different sex couples is illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation. For private sector employees, those arguments have been unsuccessful because federal law (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or “ERISA”) governs matters of employee benefits and preempts state laws that attempt to regulate benefits. Thus, in one case on this issue, the Washington State Human Rights Commission dismissed a complaint based on its determination that ERISA preempted the subject and it had no jurisdiction to consider the issue. For public employees in Washington, the issue has not been decided as to whether a different-sex restriction on domestic partner benefits violates the prohibition on sexual orientation discrimination. However, you might consider looking into domestic partner registration.

Sara Lingafelter

Following up on the last, quality, post -- opposite-sex domestic partnership registration may be available in certain municipalities in Washington, but at the present time the state law domestic partnership registry only permits those over the age of 62 to enter into an opposite-sex domestic partnership. So, if you're under the age of 62, the DP registry may not at present be an option. This is an area of law where we expect to see changes in the next few legislative sessions, so keep an eye on the news out of the legislature, to learn about changes in this area of law.

Okorie Okorocha

This is an area of law that is relatively new. I do not practice in Washington, but I do not know of a federal law that prohibits the employers from doing this.