FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 3, 2011

Microsoft, Xerox, Google, BNY Mellon among Major Businesses Opposing DOMA in Historic Amicus Brief

70 Companies, Cities and Professional Associations Detail DOMA’s Burden on Business in Gill v. OPM Brief

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Seventy major companies, cities and professional associations have filed an amicus brief in Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders’ (GLAD) DOMA challenge, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, outlining how the Defense of Marriage Act imposes burdens on American businesses. Its industry-leading signers include Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Time Warner Cable Inc., New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Xerox Corp., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Aetna, Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., State Street Bank and Trust Co. and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. 

A complete list of signers can be found here.

The brief was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, sitting in Boston.  In July 2010, GLAD won a ruling in the federal district court that DOMA is unconstitutional, as did the Massachusetts Attorney General on behalf of the Commonwealth.  DOMA, passed by Congress in 1996, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and thus excludes legally married same-sex couples from receiving the same federal marital benefits and responsibilities that apply to heterosexual married couples.

The brief argues that “the burden of DOMA’s dual regime is keenly felt by enterprises that conduct operations or do business in jurisdictions that authorize or recognize same-sex marriage.”  Because of DOMA, these employers must either treat one legally married employee differently from another legally married employee, or they must take on cost and administrative burden to make up for the federal discrimination.

“Employers will need to address DOMA as more and more gay and lesbian Americans legally marry,” said Richard E. Holbrook, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Bank Corporation.  “American businesses not only dislike treating some of their employees unfairly, they find it costly and a disincentive to attracting and retaining top-notch workers.”

The amici include financial institutions, medical centers, health-care providers, insurance companies, energy and high technology businesses, manufacturers, professional firms, retailers, marketers, non-profit organizations, the Cities of Boston, New York, and Cambridge, as well as trade associations and The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.  The brief was authored by Bingham McCutchen LLP.

“We are thrilled that so many employers are stepping up and showing what DOMA does to them as businesses,” said Mary L. Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director and co-lead attorney on Gill.  “DOMA’s damage is widespread and growing.”

Gill and the Massachusetts cases are being defended by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives (BLAG).  BLAG now has one more chance to file a brief seeking reversal of the lower court ruling. Oral arguments before the appeals court could occur as early as in January 2012.

GLAD’s second case challenging DOMA,Pedersen et al. v. Office of Personnel Management, filed in the District of Connecticut (in the Second Circuit) in November 2010, is fully briefed and awaiting decision from Judge Vanessa Bryant.

GLAD’s legal team is led by Mary Bonauto and GLAD Legal Director Gary Buseck, Staff Attorney Janson Wu, and Senior Staff Attorney Vickie Henry.  Co-operating counsel include Foley Hoag LLP (Boston), Sullivan & Worcester LLP (Boston), Jenner & Block LLP (Washington, DC), and Kator, Parks & Weiser, PLLC (Washington, DC).