The Arizona Court of Appeals has dismissed the case of a woman who claimed discrimination, saying that the state had offered some employee benefits to unmarried same-sex couples that were not given to unwed heterosexual couples.
The appellate court ruled in a decision published Tuesday against Renee Loncar, who had a long-term partnership with a man, including two children together
After the state hired Loncar in 2006, Arizona law allowed benefits for employees' domestic partners regardless of sexual orientation. She identified her partner Christopher Kutcher as a dependent for state benefits, including life insurance.
Statutes covering benefits were revised in 2010, giving unwed same-sex couples the same benefits as married opposite-sex pairs. When Kutcher died in a 2014 car accident, he was no longer considered a dependent under the law.
