Cases: Massachusetts
A.E.H. v. M.R.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously September 28, 2012 that Massachusetts must recognize other states’ parallel spousal statuses for same-sex couples, such as California registered domestic partnerships. Under the ruling, both spouses are the… Read More →
Todd Elia-Warnken v. Richard Elia
July 26, 2012 - Victory! The MA Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor our our client, Richard Elia, stating that “a Vermont civil union must be dissolved prior to either party entering into a marriage… Read More →
Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management et al.
For complete details about this case and the plaintiffs, visit http://www.glad.org/doma/
August 2, 2012 – GLAD filed a brief in response to the petitions for a writ of certiorari by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory… Read More →
Kosilek v. Spencer
GLAD filed an amicus brief in an appeal challenging the Massachusetts District Court ruling that the Commonwealth cannot deny an incarcerated transgender woman, Michelle Kosilek, gender reassignment surgery that multiple doctors determined is essential medical… Read More →
Pentlarge and Another v. Sex Offender Registry Board et. al.
GLAD has filed an amicus brief in this case on appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concerning the Commonwealth’s Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) and the process by which it classifies offenders with respect… Read More →
O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Victory! On February 2, 2010, the U.S. Tax Court issued an important decision in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, ruling for the first time that treatment for gender identity disorder qualifies as medical care… Read More →
Dixit v. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
GLAD negotiated a successful settlement on behalf of our client after Harvard Pilgrim Health Care refused to cover treatment for the severe lipodystrophy he developed as a result of taking anti-HIV medication.
When Amit Dixit… Read More →
Shaw v. Murphy
On February 19, 2008, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Ashley Shaw, who has sought to get MassHealth to cover her medically necessary HIV-related surgery. When Ashley was 15, her doctors recommended… Read More →
Parker v. Hurley
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on January 31, 2008 unanimously affirmed District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by two sets of parents against the Lexington school… Read More →
Schulman v. Reilly
GLAD filed this lawsuit to challenge the Attorney General’s decision that a proposed ballot question that would once again exclude same-sex couples from marriage satisfies the Massachusetts constitution. The suit was filed on January 3,… Read More →
Cote-Whitacre et al. v. Dept. Public Health
On March 30, 2006, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined in the absence of a home state’s “express prohibition” against marriage by same-sex couples – through a constitutional amendment, statute, or controlling appellate decision, Massachusetts… Read More →
C. J. Doyle v. Goodridge
One of a barrage of actions filed early in 2004 to prevent the implementation of Goodridge on May 17, 2004, this action sought a further stay of Goodridge until the constitutional amendment process could be… Read More →
Netherland et al. v. Whiteman et al.
GLAD is putting the right-wing on notice that they cannot use intimidation tactics to try to stop vitally important sex education information from getting to young people. In violation of Massachusetts wiretapping and privacy laws,… Read More →
T.F. v. B.L.
GLAD represented T.F., a biological mother seeking child support from her former partner, B.F. The two had decided together to have a child, with both agreeing to be parents and raise the child together. The… Read More →
Commonwealth v. Smith
In 2000, GLAD filed a brief in a Middlesex Superior Court criminal action on behalf of a person with HIV who had been charged by Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley with assault with intent to… Read More →
Goodridge et al. v. Dept. Public Health
In a historic opinion on November 18, 2003, GLAD won a ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that gay and lesbian couples can no longer be excluded from civil marriage rights in Massachusetts. GLAD… Read More →
Commonwealth v. Landry
In a major victory for public health programs that stem the tide of HIV and hepatitis C, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on December 6, 2002 that needle exchange program participants may lawfully possess needles… Read More →
Albano v. Reilly et al
In Albano et al v. Reilly et al, GLAD challenged the propriety of the Attorney General’s certification of the ballot initiative. GLAD’s claim was based on the sweeping nature of the amendment. GLAD claimed that… Read More →
Proposed “Protection of Marriage” Constitutional Amendment
Supreme Judicial Court Advisory Opinion
In a last ditch attempt to revive the measure before it was to die on December 31, 2002 at midnight, Edward Pawlick, the founder of MCM and the primary…
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GLAD et al. v. Attorney General Thomas Reilly et al
GLAD won a declaration from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that neither of the state’s sodomy laws applies to private, adult, consensual conduct. GLAD filed suit on behalf of itself and several individual gay and… Read More →
Jette v. Honey Farms
One of two landmark rulings issued in October 2001, in which the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination drew on GLAD legal analysis to rule that transgender people are covered by state non-discrimination laws prohibiting sex and… Read More →
Muzzy v. Cahillane Motors, Inc.
GLAD was instrumental in winning a decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that personal information about a plaintiff, such as sexual orientation, may not be introduced in court for the purpose of perpetuating negative… Read More →
Ayer v. Sommi & Keller
GLAD was instrumental in obtaining a favorable ruling from the Massachusetts Appeals Court that domestic violence laws protect gay, lesbian, and bisexual people as well as heterosexuals. The first same-sex domestic violence case to reach… Read More →
Millett v. Lutco
One of two landmark rulings issued in October 2001, in which the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination drew from GLAD legal analysis to rule that transgender people are covered by state non-discrimination laws prohibiting sex and… Read More →
In re R. C.
GLAD ensured that an incarcerated gay man who was violently attacked and raped by another inmate was able to press charges, despite attempts to obstruct justice by homophobic prison officials. Prison officials initially dismissed R.C.’s… Read More →
Dahill v. Boston Police Department
In this case, in May 2001, the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations against individuals whose disability has been corrected or mitigated by medications or… Read More →
Doe v. Kelley (State Police)
As a result of the settlement of a GLAD case against the Massachusetts State Police, a General Order was issued that “officers should not order someone to leave a public area in the absence of… Read More →
Doe v. Managed Care Organization
In the first legal ruling of its kind in the country, GLAD prevailed in an action to cover the cost of a life-saving liver transplant for a Medicaid recipient with both HIV and end-stage liver… Read More →
Doe v. MetLife Disability Insurance and Raytheon
GLAD, with co-counsel Stephen Rosenfeld and Mala Rafik, won the restoration of disability insurance benefits when an insurer wrongfully terminated coverage for a client with HIV who remained too debilitated by advanced HIV and significant… Read More →
Jane Doe v. Roe Moving Company
GLAD won a favorable settlement in a case filed at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) against a central Massachusetts moving company that refused to provide moving services to a mother and her son, upon… Read More →
In the Matter of Jane Doe
In response to an assault against a lesbian student by a number of her peers at a Western Massachusetts high school, GLAD secured the school’s agreement to do mandatory teacher and student trainings to ensure… Read More →
Rosa v. Park West Bank
In a precedent-setting decision with major implications for the business community, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit confirmed that sex discrimination laws reach situations where individuals are discriminated against because of… Read More →
Doe v. Board of Registration of Cosmetology
GLAD obtained clarification from the Board of Registration of Cosmetology that an individual completing a cosmetology program does not fail the statutory requirement to be certified as free from infectious diseases simply by virtue of… Read More →
Beger v. Division of Medical Assistance
In this case, a Superior Court in Suffolk County ordered the state of Massachusetts to pay for a surgical procedure it had denied to a transsexual woman, but would have provided to a non-transsexual woman. … Read More →
Commonwealth v. Ortiz
A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion strongly affirming the absolute privacy of a person’s HIV status under Massachusetts law. In this case, in which GLAD filed a friend of the… Read More →
Doe and Doe v. Department of Social Services
GLAD negotiated an agreement with the Department of Social Services that it was an error for the Department to allow only HIV-positive children to be placed in foster care with an HIV-positive couple.
Read More →Doe v. Yunits
GLAD obtained a landmark ruling, in the first reported decision ever in a case brought by a transgender student, that a middle school may not prohibit a transgender student from expressing her female gender identity. … Read More →
Jason H. v. Boston Public Schools
Representing a Boston student subjected to peer harassment, GLAD negotiated a settlement that includes system-wide training and information regarding sexual orientation and the appointment of a support person in every school.
Read More →Connors v. City of Boston
In a disappointing decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck down an Executive Order issued by Boston Mayor, Thomas Menino, granting health insurance benefits to registered domestic partners of city employees, thus constraining the City… Read More →
Crandall v. Boston Concession Group
GLAD won a ruling that Massachusetts non-discrimination law applies equally to every employee of Massachusetts companies, even if the employee works out-of-state. GLAD represented two women from Maine who worked in Maine and were essentially… Read More →
Carr v. New England Medical Center
GLAD won a favorable settlement on behalf of a gay man denied sperm banking and transport services simply because he is gay and assumed to be at “high risk” for HIV.
Read More →Doe v. Roe Hospital
GLAD successfully resolved a lawsuit against a hospital that violated the HIV testing and confidentiality statute by revealing a patient’s HIV status to his employer.
Read More →E.N.O. v. L.M.M.
In a landmark decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a non-biological lesbian mother, who helped raise her son from his birth, is a de facto parent with the right to seek visitation. GLAD… Read More →
Gagne v. Holyoke Health Center and Dr. George Abraham
GLAD won a favorable settlement on behalf of Erica Gagne, who was denied treatment by Dr. Abraham of the Holyoke Health Center after she identified herself as a lesbian. Ms. Gagne, who went to the… Read More →
Gavann v. Douglas Wooldridge, M.D.
GLAD obtained a $10,000 judgment in Suffolk Superior Court against a surgeon who illegally tested a patient for HIV without his knowledge or consent.
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