Gay Man Delivers Discrimination Lawsuit To UPS

Daniel Kline, who has lived with his partner for 27 years, filed the suit in Alameda County (California) Superior Court alleging discrimination by UPS of gay employees by not including them in a corporate policy that lets workers relocate to another city if a spouse is transferred. Kline’s transfer request was denied by the firm’s corporate office after received approvals at both the district and regional levels, according to a Reuters report.

The lawsuit contends the request was denied because the men are gay and therefore not legally married. In the suit Kline, whose partner now lives in Chicago, is seeking changes to the company’s transfer policy as well as unspecified punitive damages.

Relocation Change

A statement issued by Atlanta-based UPS said the policy has been amended and the company would grant the transfer request. “UPS does provide relocation for domestic partners,” the company said in the statement. “This policy went into effect earlier this year and was going to be broadly communicated to all of our employees as part of the annual benefit enrollment process scheduled to begin in mid-September.”

Jon Davidson, Kline’s attorney, said he was “thrilled” about the company’s decision but cautioned that it was too soon to say whether his client would drop the suit. “We want to see if they are actually going to make the transfer available to him and are they going to change the policy for domestic partners,” Davidson said. “Until it does happen the lawsuit continues.”

Klein is also still considering pursuing the lawsuit due to the fact that he has been forced to live apart from his partner for eight months due to the company’s initial denial of the relocation request, said Davidson.