BALTIMORE – Two Baltimore County police officers who were denied health benefits for their same-sex spouses have won their cases before an arbitrator, the first disputes of this kind to be decided in the department.
As reported in the Baltimore Sun, officers Margaret Selby and Juanika Ballard got the word last week that an independent arbitrator ruled in their favor, meaning the county must provide health benefits to the women whom they each married out of state in the summer of 2009. In a 10-page opinion, the arbitrator ruled that the county violated the terms of the union contract by denying the benefits in August 2010.
“I’m very happy and my family is very happy,” said Selby, 47, who works on patrol in the Essex precinct and has been with the department for 10 years. “I just want the same benefits that are provided to other married couples in the department.”
Ballard, 32, a patrol officer in the Franklin precinct who joined the force in 2000, said she was looking forward to “being able to take care of my family, and not be worried about things I was worried about before.”
Donald I. Mohler III, a spokesman for Baltimore County, said the Office of Law is reviewing the opinion from arbitrator Lois Hochhauser and will recommend a response. He said the county has the right to appeal the decision, but he could not say whether an appeal would be filed.
The two women filed grievances in August 2010, after the county began deducting premiums from their paychecks for spousal coverage, then reversed course and denied the benefits.
The decision means that the county must provide health benefits for the officers’ spouses and either reimburse them for any expenses that would have been covered or make the benefits retroactive.
