Intersection of Law and Policy: Unified Front Gets Results
From Of Counsel Vol. 3, No. 5
Published 09/28/07
To foster real social change, we often prepare our cases as vehicles for law reform and public education. When it comes to family benefits for public employees, this means it can make a big difference when policy makers hear early on their legal positions are weak and that there is unified support for providing these benefits. Just this summer, we paired with the local president of the firefighters' union in Bellevue, Washington, to present a united front in union members' quest for domestic partner benefits for these public employees.
The union president, Bruce Ansell, was sympathetic to the struggles of his members in committed same-sex relationships who couldn't qualify for family benefits through marriage. He agreed to work with Lambda Legal to make the strongest possible case for these benefits during contract negotiations with the city. Ansell then helped us craft a broad request directly to the city council for nondiscriminatory family benefits for all unmarried employees in committed relationships. Lambda Legal leveraged our extensive expertise in this area and wrote a comprehensive "letter of support" outlining how the lack of benefits creates significant harms for unmarried city employees and the good business reasons for providing nondiscriminatory benefits.
By addressing our letter of support to the union president, we understood that he would bring it to the bargaining table to share with the city's negotiator and that it later might be released publicly to the media. Indeed, outlining the facts and the legal arguments, we also aimed to create a written record in case litigation proved necessary. Our letter highlighted the daily struggles that the city's gay and lesbian employees face due to the lack of these important benefits — especially the lack of health insurance. We also cited studies that showed the negligible financial impact on employers who provide domestic partner benefits compared with the dramatic financial and emotional difference those benefits make in the lives of employees.
We won substantial public support by highlighting this information, making the collaboration with Ansell and the union instrumental. Such preparation proved its value as we readied ourselves to persuade the city council members. When we determined that litigation was unavoidable and filed our complaint, the healthy record of the facts and legal arguments that we had created helped to inspire an outpouring of vocal support. The council members unanimously voted soon after to provide the benefits. Community support, union support and a compelling factual record can be an irresistible package to elected policy makers when making these types of decisions.
