ATT employee gets leave from company just in time to welcome his partner home from rehab
GARLAND —Bryan Dickenson went home from work this week to prepare for the arrival of his longtime partner, Bill Sugg, who was scheduled to be released from a rehabilitation facility on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Dickenson has been granted a discretionary leave of absence by his employer, Dallas-based AT&T Inc., so he can care for the ailing Sugg, who suffered a debilitating stroke in September.
AT&T’s decision came after an article in last week’s Dallas Voice drawing attention to the company’s initial refusal to grant Dickenson the same leave that a married, heterosexual employee would receive under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.
"I’m very, very relieved and very, very happy," Dickenson said Wednesday, Feb. 3. "From now on, any AT&T employee who has a registered domestic partner, if they need FMLA, then they can get it, and they can get it all the way across America. It does not matter what state they live in. If somebody had done this a few years ago, we would never have gone through all this suffering and despair and hopelessness."
Walt Sharp, a spokesman for AT&T, confirmed Wednesday, Feb. 3, that the company enacted a new policy effective Monday, Feb. 1 granting FMLA-equivalent leave to same-sex domestic partners, even if their relationship isn’t recognized where they live.
AT&T’s refusal to grant FMLA leave to Dickenson came as a surprise to many, since the company received a score of 100 percent last year on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies according to their treatment of LGBT employees. AT&T was also recently named one of HRC’s "Best Places to Work" for LGBT people.
"AT&T has a really, really long history of being very proactive in these areas," Sharp said. "I think this is one of those situations where the question had never come up before, and it’s now come up, and it’s been addressed, and it’s been resolved."
Sharp said the policy that took effect Monday covers only non-union employees. Many AT&T employees, including Dickenson, are members of unions, and approval of changes to their collective bargaining agreements may take a few weeks. Meanwhile, Dickenson was given discretionary leave.
Dickenson’s attorney, Rob Wiley, said some details still must be ironed out with the company, such as whether vacation time Dickenson has taken to care for Sugg will be reclassified as FMLA leave. But Wiley said he believes AT&T is committed to ensuring that Dickenson is treated fairly.
"I think it is a victory, absolutely," Wiley said. "It’s amazing how this one blue-collar employee living right here in Dallas, Texas, made a change that affects the eighth-largest company in America."
Wiley also said he thinks this is a "wake-up call" for LGBT employees to be vigilant about what benefits their companies offer. "I would be very interested to see what the results would be if people were to call up their human resources here in Dallas at other big national companies and say, ‘Can I get FMLA?" Wiley said. "I honestly believe that’s it’s not just the eighth-biggest company in America, that it’s a lot of other big companies. … There are a lot of different rights that are out there that straight employees have, and we ought to have the same rights."
Eric Bloem, deputy director of HRC’s workplace project, said this week he was satisfied with AT&T’s handling of the situation. He noted that the company was among the first in the Fortune 500 to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policies many years ago. AT&T has participated in the Corporate Equality Index since 2004 and has received a score of 100 percent each year since 2005.
"They responded quickly to the course of events, and I think they demonstrated what a 100 percent company should be," Bloem said. "They take these inquiries and these problems very seriously and are quick to respond to them."
Bloem also defended HRC against criticism of the CEI, saying that if it weren’t for the benchmark the index has created, Dickenson may never have gotten a response from the company.
"If that didn’t exist, there would be no recourse," Bloem said. "There would be no way to hold AT&T and companies in general accountable."
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 5, 2010.
Yes AT&T did make ammends on this wrong. What is unfortunate is that it took so long. Bryan had been attempting to get FMLA from AT&T since last year. It took him getting legal assistance before the company made a move. I work in the same location as Bryan and am aware of what he has gone through. And as someone currently has over 10 years with AT&T I am suprised the last few years when they when all these equality awards. It is not the same company is was as SWBT and SBC. One can only consider how bad it must be at other companies for us.
Gee how grand of them to get their all inclusive EEO policy details ironed out finally.
I hope they did something as a nice gesture for the grief that they compounded onto that couple’s lives to make up for their bone head HR staff actions.
Thank you, AT&T. Your response to the situation restored my support for your company. I will remain one of your long time customers.
Seriously HRC? Part of earning a 100 on your equality test did not include FMLA rights? personally i have lost faith in the HRC and what their scores really mean. how many of the companies that earned a perfect 100 on the equality test offer FMLA rights? i would seriously be interested to know. Is that even a question that the HRC asks these companies?
However, i do applaud AT&T for their steps in making this situation right.