Gay rights group alleges Walmart denies health insurance benefits.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A pro-LGBT rights group has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart, alleging it discriminated against same-sex married couples by denying them health insurance benefits.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC), which filed the complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, described the case as the first class-action filed on behalf of gay employees since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June.
Per their lawsuit, Jaqueline Cote and Diana Smithson claim Wal-Mart’s pre-2014 policy of denying benefits to same-sex couples – unless required by state law – cost them at least $150,000 in medical bills.
According to the U.S. News & World Report:
The couple formerly worked together at Wal-Mart and married in 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage. They tried unsuccessfully to enroll Smithson in Wal-Mart’s spousal health insurance coverage from 2008, when she left the company to care for Cote’s mother.
Smithson developed ovarian cancer in 2012, and the couple is seeking to recoup costs incurred through Jan. 1, 2014, when the company expanded coverage to all married and unmarried couples.
Brian Nick, director of national media relations for Wal-Mart, informed the Washington Times that “Wal-Mart expanded its benefits starting in January 2014 and currently covers same sex spouses and domestic partners,” but also claimed Wal-Mart’s benefits coverage leading up to the 2014 update was consistent with the law.
In January, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined Wal-Mart’s denial of insurance “constituted discrimination on the basis of her sex,” because Smithson would have been covered if Cote was male, reported U.S. News.
“Wal-Mart broke federal law when it denied vital benefits to workers who have same-sex spouses,” said Peter Romer-Friedman, the WLC’s deputy director of litigation. “In an era where marriage equality is supported by the American people and the U.S. Supreme Court, it is hard to believe that Wal-Mart would treat its LGBT workers so poorly.”