Fresno Hospital Agrees to Training and Policy Changes in Response to Mistreatment of Lesbian Couple

“We are very pleased that Community Regional is taking seriously its obligations to respect the rights of its LGBT patients and family members,” said Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. “While it’s unfortunate that a couple had to suffer in order to make the hospital take notice, it’s commendable that Community Medical is taking such important steps to ensure that this kind of mistreatment doesn’t happen again.”

On May 29, 2009, Kristin Orbin was rushed to the emergency room after suffering from an epileptic seizure. She and her partner of four years, Teresa Rowe, had traveled from the Bay Area to Fresno to attend a rally in support of marriage for same-sex couples. Although Rowe, who grew up in nearby Clovis, California, was well aware of Orbin’s medical history and how she responded to various medications, hospital staff refused to allow her to speak with the doctors treating Orbin or to visit with her. As a result, Orbin was given the drug Ativan that she didn’t need and which caused her unnecessary pain. After the couple had been separated for several hours, Orbin finally saw her doctor. She complained to him, and Rowe was eventually allowed to be with her.

“While an apology would have been nice, we are pleased that this incident will help put an end to unfair treatment of LGBT patients and their family members,” said Rowe. “But while the policy changes are extremely welcome and necessary, this incident has also underscored that, ultimately, allowing same-sex couples to marry is the only way to guarantee the respect and recognition that will prevent this kind of treatment.”

According to the letter Community Medical Centers sent to the ACLU and NCLR, the hospital is in the early stages of reviewing all its policies dealing with LGBT patients and foresees further changes in addition to the promised training and policy changes. It has also agreed to keep the ACLU and NCLR apprised of its progress.

“We’re very pleased that Community Medical has decided to do right by its LGBT patients,” said James Beaudreau, Education and Policy Director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA). “Providing equal treatment and care for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, should be of paramount importance to any hospital. It creates an environment in which all patients feel safe and comfortable receiving treatment, which results in a higher quality of patient care.”

New York Teamsters Fund Denies Benefits to Same-Sex Spouse of Twenty-Seven Year Veteran Employee: Lambda Legal Advocates on the Family’s Behalf

Syracuse, NY—Lambda Legal filed an internal appeal to the New York State Teamsters Council Health and Hospital Fund on behalf of Jackie Zacharewski because the Teamsters Fund denied Ms. Zacahrewski's request for spousal health benefits refusing to recognize her legal marriage to Marylou Dalton-Zacharewski.

Chief Judge of Ninth Circuit Orders Spousal Benefits for Lesbian Court Employee Karen Golinski to receive back pay and health benefits for wife

Lambda Legal and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster represented Karen Golinski, a judicial attorney at the court, in her administrative grievance against her employer. In January, 2009, Chief Judge Kozinski ruled that Golinski was entitled to spousal benefits for her wife, Amy Cunninghis. The federal Office of Personal Management – an agency of the Executive Branch – responded that the law governing federal employees’ health insurance and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevent coverage for the spouses of gay and lesbian federal employees, and instructed Golinski’s insurer not to enroll Cunninghis.

Kozinski ruled today that “for the discrimination she’s suffered in the past, I can offer Ms. Golinski only money. The remedy that’s “appropriate” for the future, however, is enrollment of Ms. Golinski’s wife into the same program an opposite-sex spouse would enjoy.” He went on to say that “In effect, OPM has claimed that its interpretations of the rights and benefits of judicial employees are entitled to supremacy over those of the Judiciary. That’s incorrect, and the Executive must henceforth respect the Judiciary’s interpretation of the laws applicable to judicial employees.”

“We’re pleased that Chief Judge Kozinski once again did the right thing and upheld the right of every court employee to equal pay for equal work,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Jennifer C. Pizer. “This decision is a compelling blend of sound legal analysis and honest, real world observation: withholding health insurance for an employee's same-sex spouse is discrimination without justification, and the true, fair remedy for that discrimination is just to recognize gay employees’ family relationships and provide the insurance all workers need, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

“I’m ecstatic and relieved,” said Karen Golinski. “This insurance is critical for the security of my family. I’m so grateful to work for an institution that is committed to fair treatment of all of its workers.”

Golinski’s grievance was an internal Court procedure and does not set binding legal precedent.

James McGuire, Rita Lin and Sarah Griswold of the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP were co-counsel on the case.

Lambda Legal Files Federal Lawsuit Seeking to Block Elimination of Domestic Partner Benefits for Gay and Lesbian State Employees

Tucson, AZ — 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.