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New Way to Offer Domestic-Partner Benefits
By Gwendolyn Bradley
Two public university systems in Michigan have devised new domestic-partner benefits programs after their existing plans were struck down by a court ruling in February. The ruling found that the plans violated a state constitutional amendment against gay marriage. Instead of offering benefits only to same-sex domestic partners of employees, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan will now extend benefits to what they term, respectively, “other eligible individuals” and “other qualified adults” who share a residence with a Michigan employee and meet other criteria. In addition, the plaintiffs in the court case are filing an appeal of the intermediate court’s ruling with the Michigan Supreme Court; the AAUP expects to file an amicus brief in support of the domestic partnership plans.
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