Lesbian couple sues BlueCross over denial of spousal health care benefits
Married in Canada, school psychologist, spouse say they were denied their rights
When a Buffalo lesbian couple was denied spousal health care benefits in February following their marriage in Canada two years ago, BlueCross BlueShield denied their human rights guaranteed under state law, a civil liberties group claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The New York Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jeanne Kornowicz, a school psychologist in the Cheektowaga Central Schools, and her spouse, Joy Higgins. The couple married in Ontario in April 2006, and they have a 1-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Higgins.
The West Side couple, who have been in a relationship for nearly 10 years, declined to comment, except for a brief statement issued through the civil liberties group.
“All we want is for our family to be treated fairly,” Kornowicz stated. “It’s heartbreaking that we need to go to court so our family can find some security.”
According to the lawsuit, Kornowicz asked the Cheektowaga Central Schools to provide health coverage for her spouse in February after learning about an NYCLU victory in a similar lawsuit against Monroe County.
The school district sought to grant Kornowicz’s request, but BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York failed to provide the spousal coverage, according to the lawsuit.
When BlueCross did that, it violated two key principles in state law, the lawsuit argues. One principle is the state’s “marriage recognition rule,” recognizing valid samesex marriages performed in Massachusetts, Ontario and now California.
The other is the prohibition against sexual orientation discrimination found in the state’s Human Rights Law.
“This is a case about an insurance company’s refusal to treat a lesbian couple’s marriage the same way that it treats all other marriages under the contract it holds with an employer school district,” the lawsuit claims in its complaint.
“We’re saying there is a breach of contract, because BlueCross & BlueShield already provides spousal coverage to married employees,” NYCLU attorney Matt Faiella explained in an interview Wednesday.
The local BlueCross BlueShield attorney mentioned in the court papers, Carmen Snell, could not be reached to comment after repeated attempts Wednesday.
The legal papers, filed in State Supreme Court in Buffalo, cited both a recent state court ruling and comments from Gov. David A. Paterson’s office, both of which recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
“New York State has been recognizing marriage outside the state for generations,” said John A. Curr III, Western regional director of the NYCLU. “And state human rights laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
A key argument in the NYCLU’s complaint involves the state Appellate Division’s ruling on Feb. 1 in the case of Martinez v. Monroe County.
According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Martinez ruling means that a lesbian couple’s valid Canadian marriage is entitled to recognition in New York under the state’s marriage recognition rule.
Also, the lawsuit claims, an employer’s failure to grant benefits to a lesbian employee’s spouse constitutes unlawful sexual orientation discrimination under state law.
“The Martinez case is a statewide precedent that requires the government to honor marriages between same-sex couples,” Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director, said Wednesday. “The existence of this decision ought to make this case a slam-dunk.”
The state’s Civil Liberties Union also cited a May 14 memo from Paterson’s interim counsel, David Nocenti, advising state agencies to recognize all valid same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.
BlueCross BlueShield offices in other parts of the state have recognized the marriages of same-sex couples for at least the last two or three years, said Faiella, the NYCLU attorney.
“Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York is totally out of step with other Blue Cross offices and with other insurance companies across the state,” Lieberman added.
The lawsuit claims that BlueCross BlueShield officials, in an e-mail to Cheektowaga Central School officials, denied Kornowicz’s request for spousal coverage on the grounds that her relationship with Higgins was a “domestic partner situation.”
The school district’s attorney, Thomas J. DeBoy, in an e-mail to BlueCross BlueShield, claimed the Martinez court decision requires recognition of the couple’s samesex marriage.
“The decision does not require us to treat or view them as ‘domestic partners,’ but rather as a married couple,” DeBoy wrote.
The lawsuit seeks the spousal health care coverage plus the couple’s out-of-pocket expenses in fighting the denial.
