University Times

Having presented oral arguments April 23 in the lawsuit seeking to force Pitt to extend health benefits to its employees’ same-sex partners, attorneys are waiting for Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Gallo to rule on the University’s request for a permanent injunction in the case.

Pitt has asked Gallo to permanently bar the city’s Human Rights Commission from hearing a discrimination case against the University by seven current and former employees. Plaintiffs say Pitt violates Pittsburgh’s anti-discrimination ordinance by denying health benefits for their same-sex partners.

Pitt attorneys deny that charge, saying the ordinance does not require employers to offer such benefits. They also claim the city ordinance is superseded by a 1999 state law that exempts Pennsylvania’s state-related universities from municipal ordinances requiring them to provide health benefits.

Whichever side Gallo rules against could ask the judge to reconsider his opinion, or appeal the case to Commonwealth Court.

Christine Biancheria, an attorney for the ACLU representing the plaintiffs, said Gallo has not announced when he will issue his opinion.