Gay couple accuses UPS of bias
Update: UPS Gay Suit Settled - 02-19-2004
I'm frankly a bit surprised to hear this from UPS. I would have thought that a company as big and diverse as United Parcel Service would be a bit more enlightened and sensitive to its employees. This story makes me sick. I would expect something like this to happen with a smaller company like the one I work for, but not UPS. As for me, I'm going with another carrier from now on until they issue a public apology for this.
The way companies treat their employees should be in all our minds when we choose that company to do business with. If you choose a company who you know openly discriminates as UPS did, what does that say about you? Think about it. News source: Contra Costa Times.
A gay San Francisco couple sued United Parcel Service Inc. on Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court, claiming that the package delivery company unfairly discriminated against them because of their sexual orientation.
The dispute revolves around a benefit that allows UPS managers to follow their spouses to other cities and still keep their jobs and seniority.
Daniel Kline, one of the plaintiffs, has worked for the Atlanta-based company for 20 years, the last 16 of which he spent as a supervisor in Oakland.
Last October, Kline's partner of 27 years, Frank Sories, got notice that he would be transferred to Chicago in January by United Airlines, his employer of 19 years. Sories was four years from receiving full retirement benefits so he took the transfer.
In November, Kline applied for a transfer to Chicago and at first received approval from his bosses and district human resources staff, according to the lawsuit. But in January his transfer request was denied. His Oakland attorney, Alexander van Broek, sent UPS six letters and heard back that Kline was not qualified for a transfer because he was not married.
The situation got confusing late in the day Tuesday when UPS said that it had decided to grant Kline's request. Kline's lawyers, when told of UPS' action, said they would still press forward with the suit, although with some modifications. In July, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national gay rights organization, got involved in the case and is now also representing Kline and Sories. At a press conference Tuesday in San Francisco before UPS said it would grant his request, Kline cried a little as he described how his life had changed since his partner left for Chicago.
He read a statement: "We're not gay activists. I'm not looking to change the world or redefine what marriage is. I simply want to live with the person with whom I've shared the last 27 years."
The lawsuit accuses UPS of discriminating against Kline based on his sexual orientation. UPS is breaking the law by not extending benefits to same-sex couples that it gives married couples, said Lambda Legal's attorney Jon Davidson. Davidson said the California Fair Employment and Housing Act protects against workplace discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and marital status.
After the press conference UPS released a statement that said: "Mr. Kline's specific transfer request had been approved." The statement said the company had unsuccessfully tried to contact Kline's lawyer to inform him. UPS also said that it "does provide relocation for domestic partners. The policy went into effect earlier this year ... and was going to be communicated ... in mid-September."
Kline could not be reached later in the day. But his surprised and perplexed lawyers said that they were happy that his request was finally approved. UPS's lawyer had not contacted them until late Monday night and they did not receive the message until after Tuesday's press conference. UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley said that he could not elaborate on when UPS made the decision to grant Kline's transfer request.
The lawsuit will likely now be changed, since part of it called for injunctive relief to grant Kline a transfer. But some Bay Area employment lawyers said that it sounded like a strong case in its original form.
"The Fair Employment and Housing Act has a broad sweep," said San Francisco employment lawyer Robert Lazo. "Companies that exclude gay couples in workplace policies do so at their peril."
Cliff Palefsky, another San Francisco labor law specialist, compared the case to a high profile one two years ago in which San Francisco resident Sharon Smith filed a wrongful death lawsuit against two dog owners alleging that the dog-mauling death of her lesbian domestic partner could have been averted. The dog owners sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that she had no legal standing to sue since she was not married to the victim.
A San Francisco judge allowed the suit to proceed, which Palefsky said was a landmark decision for domestic partnership rights.
On Saturday, Gov. Gray Davis said he would sign a bill that would broaden the rights given to same-sex domestic partners, making those relationships legally equivalent to those of married couples. If such a bill passes, Palefsky said, claims like those of Kline and Sories' would be strengthened dramatically.
As for the couple, they appear to have succeeded in getting the transfer to Chicago they desired. "We're thrilled," said Davidson, their attorney. "But the bottom line is (Kline) sought this back in November ... He and Frank have been apart for eight months and that's very unfortunate."
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