Gay Male Couple’s NYC Fertility Benefits Suit to Test Bias Law

A dispute over IVF coverage for a gay New York couple will serve as an early test case for the extent to which plaintiffs can rely on a federal workplace bias law to challenge how an employer grants fertility benefits.

The class action filed May 9 in New York federal court appears to be the first lawsuit to argue that employers must provide equal IVF benefits to gay male employees under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Similar disputes often target the insurance company instead under the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1557 antidiscrimination language.

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