On Jan. 1, 2005, the California Domestic
Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act (DPRRA) went into effect,
giving registered domestic partners the same rights, duties, benefits,
and responsibilities that spouses enjoy under California law. Now, the
California Supreme Court, in its first ruling under the DPRRA, has said
that the law creates broad responsibilities for businesses to extend to
registered domestic partners the same benefits as are offered to
spouses.
The new case involved lesbian couple B. Birgit Koebke and Kendall E.
French, registered domestic partners who have been in a relationship
since 1993. Koebke bought a membership at Bernardo Heights County Club
(BHCC) in 1987. Membership benefits at BHCC are extended to a member’s
legal spouse and unmarried children under age 22.
When Koebke began her relationship with French, she asked BHCC to
permit her to designate French as her “significant other” so they could
golf together at the club on the same basis as spouses and without
having to pay hefty guest fees. But BHCC refused, stating that
non-married significant others were not entitled to club privileges.
Koebke and French sued BHCC, arguing, among other things, that the
DPRRA expanded the California Unruh Act, which prohibits discrimination
by businesses, to require businesses to treat domestic partners the
same as spouses. The California Supreme Court sided with the women,
concluding that “discrimination against registered domestic partners in
favor of married couples is a type of discrimination that falls within
the ambit of the Unruh Act.”
We’ll have more on this decision, including how it may impact the
workplace, in an upcoming issue of the California Employer Advisor.
Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to know about new laws and regulations, and your compliance obligations, for the year ahead—it’s one-stop shopping at its best.