Disney, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Adobe, New York Life and 273 other Employers file amicus brief to support marriage equality

By Melanie Nathan, February 27, 2013.

A team of Bingham McCutchen lawyers today filed on behalf of 278 businesses, cities, and other employers and employer organizations an amicus brief in United States v. Windsor, the United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The brief, a copy of which is attached, argues from the point of view of the employer that the law’s prohibition of federal recognition of lawful marriages between same-sex spouses creates a variety of hardships in the employer’s effort to administer tax, benefits and other HR matters, and in efforts to foster workplace morale.

Last year, the firm filed similar briefs in challenges to DOMA in the First and Ninth Circuit courts of appeals, in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, Case Nos. 10-2204, 10-2207, 10-2214, (1st Cir.), and Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, Case Nos. 12-15388 & 12-15409 (9th Cir.).

Partner Sabin Willett (Boston) and associate John Polito (San Francisco) led the team in drafting the Windsor brief. The Bingham team also included partners Beth Boland (Boston), Mary Huser (Silicon Valley), Susan Baker Manning (Washington, D.C.), and Ray Marshall (San Francisco), and associates Derek Care (New York), Meg Bailey (San Francisco), Jared Craft (Boston), Monica Hernandez (Silicon Valley), Bryce Woolley (Santa Monica), and Katherine Moskop (Boston).

See the Brief and full list on GAY U.S.A.  the Movie’s BLOG at http://gayusathemovie.com/2013/02/278-employers-file-amicus-brief-in-scotus-doma-case-in-support-of-marriage-equality/