Newsgroups: soc.motss,can.motss,alt.politics.homosexuality From: ad752@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Ronald Chaplin) Subject: Sears Canada offers same-sex benefits Reply-To: ad752@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Ronald Chaplin) Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1993 15:41:45 GMT The following is reprinted, without permission, from the December 9, 1993 edition of the Ottawa Citizen. "Sears extends benefits to gay workers' partners" by Citizen staff Sears Canada will extend benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. In a letter to managers this week, Sears said that "in the light of recent human rights and Supreme Court rulings, employees wishing to register same-sex partners under their benefit program may do so immediately." "That's great news," said Alan Shefman, director of communications for the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Shefman said an increasing number of employers are extending benefits to same-sex partners following rulings by the Ontario human rights board of inquiry and other bodies. "We've been promoting the need for the public and private sector to recognize, for the purpose of benefits, same-sex spouses. We're starting to hear the results." He said the Toronto Board of Education recently extended benefits to same-sex partners of its employees. Ontario Hydro has also done so. The City of Ottawa does the same. "The tide is turning," said Anne Molgat of the Association of Lesbians and Gays of Ottawa. "This could cost Sears support from some sectors; it could also win support from other sectors. People like myself who might not normally shop at Sears will alter their shopping habits. I support companies that support my community." Meanwhile, the federal government is appealing one of these key rulings, which would force it to stop discriminating against gay and lesbian public servants and extend some family-related job benefits to same-sex couples. The Justice Department last month filed a notice in Federal Court claiming an adjudicator exceeded her jurisdiction in a September ruling hailed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada as a "precedent-setting victory" for homosexuals. An adjudicator of the Public Service Staff Relations Board ruled the federal government violated its collective agreement and human rights law in refusing a gay public servant in Vancouver family-related leave to tend his ailing partner. Under the Sears plan, a partner is defined the same as a common-law spouse: someone who is publicly presented as their partner, and who has resided with them for at least one year. --