Health Club Sued for Discrimination
By Brian Davidson
ROCHESTER, Minn. – A lesbian couple who share a last name and are raising a daughter together have sued the Rochester Athletic Club and its owner for denying them a family membership because they are not legally married.
While state law prohibits same-sex couples from marrying in Minnesota, Amy and Sarah Monson exchanged vows in a formal commitment ceremony in 2002. They have also merged their finances and listed each other as beneficiaries in their estate plans along with their 11-year-old daughter.
But when the Monsons tried to purchase a family membership at the RAC in March 2006, the club said they were not eligible for the discounted rate – which would have saved them about $40 a month – because they are not married under the law.
The club invited one of the Monsons and their daughter to join at the family rate, offering the other a more expensive individual membership, according to defense attorney Gregory Griffith. The Monsons declined, deciding instead to file a lawsuit against the club and its owner, John Remick, for discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“This is not about marriage,” said the Monson’s attorney, Joni Thome. “It’s about sexual orientation. The legal relationship is not what matters. What matters is what people acknowledge themselves to be. ”
Defense attorney Gregory Griffith disagrees, arguing that the legal status of the Monson’s relationship is a pivotal factor in the case.
“If the state would modify some of the legal standards [marriage laws], that would certainly clarify this situation,” he said. “But as we stand, we don’t believe Minnesota law requires the RAC to provide the Monsons what they’re seeking.”
Griffith likened the club’s membership policy to employee benefit standards in the state. Some Minnesota companies allow same-sex partners to apply for same-sex benefits, he said, but they are not required to do so by law.
Thome said that Remick and his club have violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by denying the Monsons a public accommodation because of their sexual orientation. The Monsons and their daughter have suffered “mental and emotional anguish” as a result of not being recognized as a family, she said, adding, “It’s a strange thing for an 11 year-old kid to be told that she’s not part of a family.”
The Monsons are seeking $50,000 in damages, but Thome said she hopes the trial will have much greater implications.
“If we can get the court to agree that this is not about the marriage debate – that this is about sexual orientation – I think the ruling will carry over to other institutions in our state and to other states as well.”
The case was filed in the district court in early March. A trial date has not been set.