For five days after her partner was hospitalized in Tennessee for injuries she received in a car crash, Eloise McPike had to wait for her employer, the state Department of Corrections, to approve her vacation request to go care for her.
Michelle Collins has found a lump in her breast, but because she doesn’t qualify for benefits under her partner’s state government health insurance, she hasn’t seen a specialist. She’s worried about the cost of a biopsy. Besides, she’s found lumps before that didn’t turn out to be cancerous.
The two are among six same- sex couples who sued the state Wednesday, alleging government unfairly discriminates against its gay and lesbian employees by refusing to provide their partners with health insurance and family leave benefits.