Nondiscrimination Policy
Oklahoma City University School of Law provides equality of opportunity in legal education for all persons, including faculty and employees, with respect to hiring, continuation, promotion and tenure, applicants for admission, enrolled students, and graduates, without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, handicap or disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
The School of Law provides its students and graduates with equal opportunity to obtain employment, without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, handicap or disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. In furtherance of this policy, the law school communicates to each employer to whom it furnishes assistance and facilities for interviewing and other placement functions the school's firm expectation that the employer will observe the principle of equal opportunity.
The Vice President for Administration and Finance, located in Room 402 of the Administration Building, telephone 405.521.5029, coordinates the University's compliance with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Student Organization Contact Information
Oklahoma City University School of Law is home to a chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Law Student Association:
Faculty Contact Information
Deborah S. Tussey
Associate Professor of Law
E-mail: dtussey@okcu.edu
Website: law.okcu.edu?page_id=2656
Administrator Contact Information
No details provided.
Course Titles and/or Descriptions
None
Domestic Partnership Benefits
Plan Coverage
Domestic partners of current employees and dependents are eligible for the same benefits as spouses and dependents of employees who are married.
Benefits
The following university benefits are available to and for eligible domestic partners:
- Health insurance, including medical, dental, and vision
- Life insurance
- Tuition remission (dependents may be listed on the employee's or the partner's tax return)
- Freede Wellness Center, libraries, etc.
- Leaves, including family medical leave, sick leave, bereavement leave
Enrollment Procedures/Health Insurance
To enroll a domestic partner and/or dependents of a domestic partner, the employee must complete an affidavit of domestic partnership within the required timeframes of the benefit plans. Forms are available from the Human Resources Department or on the HR website.
Open Enrollment/Health Insurance
Effective with the next open enrollment period (December 2004), the university will offer domestic partner health benefits (effective January, 2005). OCU does not offer annual open enrollment periods for health benefits. Future opportunities to enroll in the university health plan will be determined by the Benefits Committee. Such enrollments will be available to employees, dependents, and domestic partners.
Enrollment/Change of Family Status/Health Insurance
If an employee, spouse, or domestic partner has a change of family status, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service and benefits providers, the employee may qualify to add dependents, spouse, or domestic partner to their plan. Application must be made within 30 days of the change in family status. Qualifying changes include marriage, death, and a change in employment status.
Documentation
Employees requesting domestic partner coverage or related dependent coverage effective January 1, 2005, and thereafter, must complete an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership document. This document attests to the partner's and/or dependents' eligibility. It allows university benefits providers to verify that the family members satisfy eligibility criteria. Some university benefit providers may require a copy of the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership.
The university may request and reserves the right to require specific documentation as proof of eligibility to support the affidavit.
Domestic Partner/Definition
To qualify as a domestic partner for health insurance purposes, the domestic partners:
- Must be at least 18 years of age or older and of the same gender.
- Must have executed a notarized (relationship contract), which obligates each partner to
- provide support for the other partner,
- act as the other's sole domestic partner indefinitely, and
- if, in the event of the termination of the relationship, provides for a substantially equal division for any property acquired during the relationship.
- Are unable to qualify for coverage as common-law spouses.
- Neither may be legally married or covered under another domestic partner arrangement.
- Are not related by blood closer than would bar marriage in the State of Oklahoma, and are mentally competent to consent to contract.
- Share the common necessities of life.
- Three of the following conditions exist:
- The relationship has been in existence for a period of at least twelve consecutive months.
- The partners have common or joint ownership/lease of residence (home, condominium, or mobile home).
- The partners have at least two of the following:
- Joint ownership of a motor vehicle
- Joint-checking account
- Joint-credit account
- The domestic partner has been designated as a beneficiary for one of the following:
- Group Life Insurance
- Retirement Contract
- Employee's Will (where beneficiary will receive the equivalent of a spousal share under Oklahoma law)
Dependents of Domestic Partners/Definition
University employees may also enroll in the health plan dependent child(ren) of an eligible domestic partner if the following criteria are met:
- children of the employee's domestic partner reside with the employee and partner, and
- children of the domestic partner qualify and are carried on the partner's tax return as a dependent (based on IRS regs.)
OR
- the domestic partner is required by court order to provide coverage for the children.
Tax Withholding
The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that domestic partner benefits are taxable to the employee, unless the domestic partner can prove legal dependent status or qualify as a spouse under state law.
Imputed Income Information
The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that, if an employee receives health benefits for a domestic partner or such partner's legally dependent child(ren), the employee must pay FICA and Federal Income Taxes on the value of the benefit (i.e., the premium costs contributed by the employer).
Section 125 Plan for Pre-Tax Premium Contributions
Because the IRS does not recognize domestic partners as dependents, insurance premiums, noncovered medical, dental, prescription drugs, vision care, and dependent care expenses for the domestic partner and their children do not qualify under flexible spending account plans.
Termination Procedures
If there is a change in status of the domestic partnership, the employee must complete a Notice of Termination form within 30 days of the change and submit it to the Human Resources Department. Benefits will be discontinued on the last day of the month that the domestic partnership is terminated.
Waiting Period
Following the termination of a domestic partnership, a 12-month waiting period must elapse before a university employee is eligible to designate a new domestic partner or redesignate the prior domestic partner.
COBRA Continuation Rights
Oklahoma City University is exempt from the provision of COBRA. The university allows a member of the faculty or staff who has terminated employment to purchase up to three additional months of health insurance immediately following termination.
Confidentiality
All employee information, including statements of domestic partnership, is kept confidential and released only to personnel and insurers with a need to know.
Liability for False Statements
If the university suffers a loss because of a false statement contained in the documents submitted in connection with the coverage for a domestic partner or as a consequence of the failure to notify the Human Resource Department of a change circumstance, the university will be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees in addition to damages for all such losses.
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