Arizona to Contest Injunction Requiring Employee Benefits for Domestic Partners

The state of Arizona is scheduled to seek approval today from a federal appeals court in allowing the state to stop providing employee benefits for the partners of unmarried couples. Last year, U.S. District Judge John Sedwick issued an injunction preventing the state from changing its benefits package. Benefits were originally extended to include domestic partners by former Gov. Janet Napolitano. When Napolitano left her office in 2009 to become Homeland Security chief in the Obama administration, Republican Jan Brewer became governor. Under Brewer, the state Legislature approved a budget that cut benefits for the partners of unmarried state employees in an effort to save money. Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of gay and lesbian workers, and Judge Sedwick said the changes made in the state budget were discriminatory given that the partners of gay and lesbian workers do not have the option of obtaining benefits through marriage in Arizona. Judge Sedwick?s ruling requires Arizona to continue funding the benefits until there has been a final ruling on the matter, which could take years.Related Media Coverage:The Arizona Daily Sun - February 13, 2011"State Wants to Drop Benefits for Worker's Gay Partners"http://azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/article_5925cc6b-0d8b-575f-b40a-2e427bf60c39.html

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