MNA & Essent reach settlement granting health insurance benefits to same sex spouses of unionized nurses at Merrimack Valley Hospital

The MNA recently reached a settlement agreement with Essent Healthcare, owners of Merrimack Valley Hospital of Haverhill that ends a two-year dispute involving Essent's denial of health insurance benefits to the same sex spouse of a registered nurse employed by the hospital. Under the settlement agreement reached on Jan. 9, any registered nurse represented by the MNA at MVH will be eligible for same-sex spousal coverage in all medical plans offered by the employer.

In 2006, the MNA filed a suit in federal court seeking to reverse an arbitration award that denied health insurance benefits to Maria Ciulla, RN, an MVH nurse who was denied health coverage for her same-sex spouse.

The lawsuit claimed the hospital violated specific union contract language that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. It also charged that the arbitrator overstepped his authority in deciding the case, ignoring the facts and arguments presented by both parties, while inappropriately citing federal statutes, specifically, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to justify the hospital's voluntary decision to deny equal health benefits to its gay and lesbian employees. The MNA was being supported in the lawsuit by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), New England's leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A decision by the judge had been expected, but the recent settlement agreement calls for the parties to request the judge issue a decision to conform to the settlement.

Ciulla, a nurse who worked on a telemetry unit at Merrimack Valley Hospital, was lawfully married to her same-sex partner on Oct. 1, 2005 after the landmark Goodridge decision was issued by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Shortly thereafter, she attempted to enroll her new spouse in the hospital's health insurance plan but was denied enrollment. She then filed a grievance under her union contract, which clearly stipulates that the hospital cannot discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation.

The case was subsequently brought to arbitration. At the arbitration hearings, Martee J. Harris, a corporate vice president for human resources for Essent Healthcare, which is based in Tennessee, testified that she had approached BlueCross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BC/ BS), the administrator of Essent's self-insured health plan, calling for a change in the definition of "spouse" under the Merrimack Valley Hospital plan to include all legal spouses, with the exception of legal spouses of gay and lesbian employees.

Ciulla is no longer an employee of Merrimack Valley Hospital, but because of her willingness to challenge the hospital's action, and as a result of her union's support efforts, now all current and future nurses at the hospital will be entitled to the benefits she was denied. The Merrimack Valley Hospital nurses are currently engaged in negotiations for a new union contract.

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