Marriage Equality and the Constitution
The debate over same-sex marriage has been raging across the country for years. The legal issues raised by marriage equality involve privacy rights and equal protection. Although marriage equality may not appear at first glance to be business related, it is an important legal issue for managers. Companies like Barilla Pasta, Chick-fil-A, Exxon Mobil, and
Target Corporation have lost significant business for purportedly supporting anti-gay organizations and legislation.
The Definition of Marriage Before 1996, federal law did not define marriage, and the U.S. government recognized any marriage that was recognized by a state. Then Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which explicitly defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman. DOMA was later challenged, and a number of federal courts found it to be unconstitutional in the context of bankruptcy, public employee benefits, and estate taxes. In 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down part of DOMA as unconstitutional.aToday, once again, no federal law defines marriage Bans on Same-Sex Marriage Eliminated by the Supreme Court During this period, federal courts became increasingly likely to invalidate state bans on same-sex marriage. In 2013, a federal district court held that Utah’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional.b In 2014, federal district courts in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma struck down state same-sex marriage bans.c Moreover, public sentiment on the issue had shifted, and more states recognized the rights of same-sex couples. By 2015,thirty-seven states, as well as the District of Columbia, had legalized same-sex marriage. In 2015, the United States Supreme Court determined that the remaining state-level prohibitions on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. In a landmark decision, the Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment requires individual states to (1) issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and (2) recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.d The landmark Supreme Court decision requiring all states to recognize same-sex marriage means that businesses must make adjustments. Company policies need to be revised to specify how same-sex partners will be
treated in terms of family and medical leave, health insurance coverage, pensions, and other benefits.
Business Questions
1. Can a business manager’s religious beliefs legally factor into the business’s hiring and treatment of same-sex partners? Why or why not?
2. Must business owners in all states provide the same benefits to employees in a same-sex union as they do to heterosexual couples?
