Brinkman
Miami University can breathe a collective sigh of relief knowing that a bullet has been dodged-at least for now.
The Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 27 that Ohio Representative Tom Brinkman Jr. (R-Cincinnati) did not have legal standing to sue the university over its domestic partner benefits policy.
The lawsuit was originally filed against Miami in 2005 over the university's policy of offering domestic partner benefits, with Brinkman stating his interest in the case was as a taxpayer and a tuition paying parent of a Miami student. Brinkman claimed that Miami's policy of offering domestic partner benefits was illegal under Ohio's then-new ban on civil unions. Miami had just begun to offer domestic partner benefits in July 2004. Judge Charles L. Pater of the Butler County Common of Pleas Court then dismissed the lawsuit in November 2006. Brinkman appealed this decision.
Neither the November 2006 dismissal nor last week's decision addressed the legality of offering domestic partner benefits at the university, rather only addressed Brinkman's standing to sue.
Miami is not the only university in Ohio to offer domestic partner benefits-it joins the ranks with Ohio University, Ohio State University, Youngstown State and Cleveland State.
Domestic partner benefits extend what traditional benefits-health and dental, for example-are offered to spouses of employees to domestic partners as well.
Robin Parker, the university's general counsel, was pleased with the court's decision, but was cautiously optimistic.
"(Brinkman) has the right to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to appeal this decision," she said. "We'll have to wait and see."
She said that Brinkman has 45 days from the issuance of the decision to decide whether or not to appeal it. When contacted, Brinkman said he had not yet decided if he would appeal, but had no further comment.
Parker added that she hoped the university would be able to put the issue to rest and move on.
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"We hope it's the end of the matter," she said.
Leslie Morrow; the interim assistant director of diversity affairs for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Services (GLBT) at Miami; echoed Parker's cautious optimism, saying that the ruling by the three-judge panel was not final enough.
"I wouldn't be surprised if (Brinkman) does try to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court," she said, but adding, "It's time for a little celebration."
Morrow felt that if Brinkman's lawsuit had been successful, a great deal of quality people would have left the institution.
"We would have lost a lot of qualified faculty, staff and even students," she said. "This would have knocked us down a few pegs."
She also said that Miami needed to retain its GLBT community members to remain open to diversity and "push the envelope" for underrepresented groups.
Two Miami professors directly affected by Brinkman's lawsuit, Jean Lynch and Yvonne Keller, filed an intervention in the case through Lambda Legal in December 2005. Keller is no longer an employee of Miami University, and Lynch could not be reached for comment.
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