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666 Broadway Lambda New York, NY 10012 (212) 995-8585 Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. News Re/ease FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 19, 1991 Press Contacts: Paula Ettelbrick Evan Wolfson Penny Perkins 212/995-8585 NEW YORK JUDGE UPHOLDS GAY TEACHERS' LAWSUIT FOR DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS (NEW YORK, NY, August 19, 1991) Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund today announced the landmark ruling of a New York court recognizing that lesbian and gay employees have a legal right to sue for health insurance benefits for their domestic partners. The ruling in Gay Teachers Association v. New York City Board of Education represents the first time a state trial court judge has upheld a series of claims alleging sexual orientation and marital status discrimination for failure to extend benefits to unmarried domestic partners. I ambda Legal Defense represents three gay employees of the New York City School system, their long- time domestic partners, and the Gay Teachers Association in the precedent setting case. The suit, filed in May 1988, claims that the Board of Education's policy of providing health insurance only to benefit the families of married employees, but not those of unmarried employees, violates the constitutional and civil rights of unmarried employees. Lesbian and gay employees are particularly
