New York City was hit with a lawsuit on Thursday claiming it discriminates in opposition to homosexual male metropolis workers by solely masking the prices of in vitro fertilization (IVF) for girls and heterosexual {couples}.
The proposed class motion was filed in Manhattan federal courtroom by former assistant district legal professional Corey Briskin and his husband, who say they have been pressured to place off having a household for years as a result of town’s worker medical health insurance plan denied them protection for IVF procedures.
The plan solely covers IVF remedies for workers and their companions when they’re infertile and defines that time period in a slender manner that categorically excludes homosexual males, in line with the lawsuit.
The New York Metropolis Council is contemplating a invoice launched in March that might require town to cowl IVF remedies for all workers, no matter their marital standing or sexual orientation.
Many lawsuits have challenged unequal insurance coverage advantages for LGBTQ+ folks, together with for fertility remedies. However Thursday’s lawsuit is the primary proposed class motion involving claims {that a} medical health insurance plan discriminated in opposition to homosexual males particularly, in line with Peter Romer-Friedman, a lawyer for Briskin and his husband.
“No courtroom has but opined on the difficulty of whether or not homosexual males will be denied IVF advantages given to different workers,” he mentioned, including that the case might set nationwide precedent on the difficulty.
The lawsuit claims that town’s coverage violates federal, state and metropolis legal guidelines barring office discrimination based mostly on intercourse and sexual orientation. The plaintiffs additionally say the denial of advantages violates their rights to equal safety and due course of underneath the U.S. Structure.
The proposed class might embrace hundreds of individuals. New York Metropolis has about 300,000 workers and its healthcare plan covers about 1.25 million folks, in line with the criticism.
—Daniel Wiessner, Reuters