NY Couples Lose Rights Cases

August 20, 2006

ROCHESTER—Following the disappointing—and, frankly, insulting—loss in the marriage suit last month, same-sex couples in New York have been further denied rights by New York courts.

A suit against Monroe Community College brought by a lesbian employee who had been refused health benefits for her long-term partner was dismissed by a Rochester trial court. The employee, Patricia Martinez and her partner of six years, Lisa Ann Golden, were registered in a Vermont civil union and were legally married in Canada, and filed suit after Martinez's repeated requests were denied by the college.

Justice Harold Galloway, ruled that the state could refuse to provide benefits since it did not recognize same-sex marriages entered into outside New York. [To do so] would be to make an end-run around what the Court of Appeals has declared to be the will of the New York State Legislature, which currently defines marriage as limited to the union of one man and one woman, he wrote.

Galloway's decision clearly conflicts with New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer's 2004 opinion that, at least for purposes of state pensions and benefits, the State would recognize same-sex marriages entered into in jurisdictions where they were legal, including Massachusetts and Canada. However, this informal opinion was decided based on the decision in a case, Langan v. St. Vincent's Hospital of New York, which was subsequently overturned on appeal.

The ACLU has stated that it intends to appeal Justice Galloway's decision.

Same-sex couples in New York also suffered a defeat, when a Long Island court ruled that a lesbian could not bring a wrongful death claim against the man who struck and killed her long-time partner in an automobile accident.

Linda Saegert filed suit against a New Jersey driver as a result of the death of her partner of 18 years, Victoria Sarafino. Sarafino was struck and killed by a car in March 2003.

Basing his dismissal of the suit on the earlier decision in July 2005, Langdan, that overturned a lower-court opinion that would have allowed such a claim, Judge David Palmieri held that because the couple's relationship was not recognized in New York, Saegert was not legally entitled to sue for the death of her partner. The judge noted that in New York, only couples in a marriage recognized in New York were entitled to bring such a suit. Thus, same-sex couples and unmarried opposite sex couples are both prevented from bringing a wrongfull death suit.

See Saegert v. Simonelli, 2006 NY Slip Op 51548(U), decided August 1, 2006, Supreme Court, Nassau County.

Lambda Legal has not yet said whether Saegert will appeal the decision.

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