Health Promo 03 (Getty) | Advocate.com
||  News  ||
 
September 14, 2007

Pennsylvania suit seeks equality in unemployment law

Pennsylvania suit seeks equality in unemployment law

In yet another example of the disparity between same-sex couples and married heterosexuals, a Pennsylvania woman has been denied unemployment benefits after moving to Florida with her partner of eight years.

Under a doctrine called "follow the spouse," a husband or wife obliged to quit his or her job by a family move qualifies for unemployment benefits in the state of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

But Joan Procito, a financial manager in Drexel Hill, was given the cold shoulder by the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review after she moved to Florida with her partner and stepson. Procito's partner, Mary Jo Sheller, moved to Florida to be close to her disabled son, who was entering college.

Procito is suing the state officials in commonwealth court, where a three-judge panel heard arguments last week. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the board of review's attorney, Gerard M. Mackarevich, told the panel "it would be madness" for the board to treat same-sex couples the same as spouses.

"How," asked Mackarevich, "can the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review pick and choose between people to decide whether they are sufficiently intermingled to qualify as legally married?"

The dilemma might seem insurmountable to Mackarevich, but the state of New York has managed nicely, ever since the American Civil Liberties Union challenged state policy in an identical case five years ago.

Like Procito, Jeanne Newland followed her partner, who found a better job in Virginia back in 2002. Newland assumed she'd quickly find a job of her own there, but after some time passed with no success, she decided to apply for unemployment. One bureaucrat told her that she would qualify if she had been engaged to be married to a man.

Newland and the ACLU went to the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, where even Newland's former employer lobbied on her behalf, to no avail. In June 2003, Gov. George Pataki wrote to the board, asking it to reconsider. The board agreed.

While the reconsideration was pending, however, the New York Department of Labor changed its policy. In a letter to the board in early 2004, the department recognized that unmarried couples in committed relationships have "good cause" for surrendering a job when their partner must relocate.

Apparently, New York has not faced "madness" in the 2 1/2 years since the unemployment policy has been changed. Nor has the Empire State had a problem determining the difference between life partners and casual friends. In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Procito will wait for the court to rule and take it from there. (Ann Rostow, Gay.com)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Be the first to comment on this story.

Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • Letter to the Editor
    We’d like to unveil a big change: after nearly four decades as a biweekly magazine, we’re going monthly.
  • Parental Control
    San Francisco State researcher Caitlin Ryan explains the importance behind a study linking suicide and drug use among gay children to parental rejection.
  • Austerity Chic
    How novelist and performance artist Mike Albo gets by in lean times.
  • Hoping to "Wu" Michelle
    Dressing Michelle Obama in November was a game changer for designer Jason Wu. Now he has his sights set on the future first lady’s most high-profile event: Inauguration Day.
  • Boi From Troy Signs Off
    After five years of raising eyebrows on the Web, Boi From Troy blogger -- and gay Republican -- Scott Schmidt is signing off.
  • A Desert Journey
    The Mii Amo spa in Sedona, Ariz., is famous for packages designed to lead people through a spiritual as well as physical transformation. One writer relinquishes herself to the journey and recounts her days in one of the world's most beautiful destination resorts.
  • A List: Chris Evans
    Chris Evans is a serious actor but that doesn’t mean he wants you to stop objectifying him.
  • Great American Couple
    In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Hollywood Bohemians: Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream, Brett L. Abrams explores the relationship between Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, who led homosexual lives right under everyone's nose.
  • Mormons Gone Wild
    After one man undresses missionaries for his calendar, LDS Church–owned Brigham Young University strips him of his degree.
  • Constructive Impatience
    Stung by the Warren decision, GLAAD's former executive director Joan Garry offers the Obama transition team some sage advice.
  • Boxer Goes Trans for Eli Stone
    Often perceived as male by confused casting agents, boxer-body builder turned actor Dallas Malloy felt a deep connection to the trans minister she plays on Eli Stone.
  • Mamma Mia! Rises Again
    Meryl Streep and company managed to top Harry Potter and Titanic at the U.K. box office, and now Mamma Mia! is poised to break similar records on DVD. Director Phyllida Lloyd talked to Advocate.com about bringing one of the biggest musicals of all time to the big screen.
  • The Other White Meat
    As one of the subjects of the documentary about the drag pageant circuit, Pageant, opening in select theaters, and one of the contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, premiering next month on Logo, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker may not look or act like your typical female impersonator, but make no mistake, she is one of the best.
  • The Religious Defense
    In an excerpt from her new book, Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians, author Candace Chellew-Hodge incorporates the wisdom of Xena: Warrior Princess to illustrate her theories as to how gay and lesbian people of faith can protect themselves from those who attack their views.
  • Photo Finish
    Did Prop. 8 backlash cause art censorship -- or its reversal -- at Brigham Young University? Could be, as BYU photography student J. Michael Wiltbank found when his contribution to a two-week-long art exhibition -- eight pairs of benign portraits, each depicting an LGBT-identified BYU student alongside a supportive friend -- had been removed.
  • The Divine Miss M.
    Since the death of performer Wayland Flowers in 1988, his over-the-top puppet creation Madame has been seen only sporadically. But with the launch of her new casino tour, Madame is back.
  • Whither NLGJA?
    The leading professional organization for LGBT journalists is facing a crisis that threatens its very survival. In a changing media landscape and a tough economy, how does a small nonprofit live up to its mission and retain members?
  • The Road to Equality
    Barbara Boxer, the U.S. senator from California, understands why her gay constituents are furious over Rick Warren's role in the inauguration -- it feels like Proposition 8 redux.