For Immediate Release December 10, 1993 Contact: Carol Farnsworth (215) 898-8721 PENN TRUSTEES APPROVE MEASURE TO EXTEND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS TO SAME-SEX DOMESTIC PARTNERS ============================================================================== PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- The Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania's Board of Trustees today approved the extension of full benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian employees at Penn and has authorized its Division of Human Resources to develop procedures in support of the new policy. The measure would cover employees with same-sex partners who can demonstrate several criteria for eligibility including a committed relationship of indefinite duration and financial responsibility for each other. The resolution will make available all health, retirement and tuition benefits currently extended to spouses and children of married employees. "We welcome this decision as part of the University's long-term commitment to maintaining a strategically competitive benefits package," said William Holland, Penn's Vice President for Human Resources. "We anticipate enrollment of domestic partners during the annual open enrollment in April with benefits effective in May, pending final agreements with our insurance carriers." In its decision to extend employee benefits to same-sex domestic partners, the University joins a growing number of higher education institutions including the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that have approved similar measures. Large corporations have also begun to follow this trend. AT&T, Sears and Apple Computers Inc. have approved domestic partners benefits. The decision follows a report issued in October by a University task force that evaluated the feasibility of implementing the new policy. The eight-member task force, lead by law professor Stephen B. Burbank, found that the University's equal opportunity and affirmative action policies, which forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, support extension of benefits to gay and lesbian couples. "The new policy reinforces Penn's status as an open and diverse community," Holland said. In addition to demonstration of financial dependency, the new policy also requires documentation that partners: * reside together * are not married * are at least 18 years of age * are not related by blood to a degree that would bar marriage in their state of residence. The new policy does not include any special waiting period for initial eligibility but does require notice of termination of the partnership. A 12- month waiting period would be required before an employee would be eligible to register a new domestic partner. ***** .