MINNEAPOLIS — A construction company has filed a suit in Minneapolis over “equal benefits” that could have implications for dozens of major cities across the United States.
Titus Construction is suing the city of Minneapolis, charging that the city ordinance to require certain city contractors to provide domestic partner benefits to their employees is an illegal interference with commerce, and imposes social engineering onto private companies.
Titus, located in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville, filed the federal lawsuit on April 7, seeking to have Minneapolis’ Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO) nullified. Passed in December 2002 and taking effect at the beginning of this year, EBO mandates that any prospective city vendor with at least 22 employees that is seeking a contract worth more than $100,000 that is administered through the city’s purchasing department must have an employee domestic partners benefits plan for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Minneapolis is one of a handful of cities with an EBO, but the only city outside the West Coast. Other cities with such ordinances are Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. City councils in Atlanta, New York City and several other major cities are considering EBOs.
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