Robert Ryan and Ralph Martinelli have been together for four years.  A year after they started dating, they registered as domestic partners in New Jersey. Martinelli was told he could insure Ryan under his policy as a Konica Minolta Business Solutions sales manager.

Ryan used the policy to pay for medication to treat the depression, anxiety and childhood asthma that resurfaced after inhaling severe smoke inside the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ryan worked on the 74th floor of the south tower and escaped after the north tower was struck first.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Ryan was dropped from the policy last October, shortly after the Konica Minolta company found the couple had moved to Idaho, where they couldn’t register as domestic partners. In 2006, 63 percent of Idaho voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, effectively outlawing same-sex unions. Such a forward-thinking state.

Martinelli is still covered by a COBRA policy through the company. Ryan now pays $650 a month for a separate COBRA insurance policy that will expire in March 2009.

The national arm of the ACLU sent letters to Konica Minolta requesting Ryan be reinstated to the policy.

“We’ve been wrestling with Konica Minolta for months hoping that we could simply persuade them quietly to do the right thing,” said Jack Van Valkenburgh, executive director of the ACLU of Idaho. “They’ve made their decision.”

In a letter dated October 2, 2007, the company of douchebags confirmed Ryan’s coverage would be terminated. Donald Warwick, vice president of human resources for Konica Minolta, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.

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