In a pair of decisions issued on March 24, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, found that the New York City Education Department should not have discharged two female teachers who were alleged to have been engaging in sexual activity in a darkened, otherwise empty classroom one evening while a musical program was taking place elsewhere in the building. However, the court found that the teachers had engaged in conduct that merited punishment, and … <Read More>
Legal Issues
Michigan Marriage Equality Ruling Repudiates Regnerus “Study” as “Unbelievable”
Senior U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman ruled on March 21 that the Michigan Marriage Amendment and the statutes that implement it, which prohibit same-sex marriages in Michigan, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Judge Friedman ordered the state to stop enforcing the ban. Friedman released his opinion shortly after business hours, so county clerk offices around the state were already closed for the weekend and marriage licenses could not be immediately … <Read More>
Federal Judge Refuses to Stay Her Tennessee Marriage Recognition Order as New Marriage Equality Drama Plays Out in Oregon
In a gutsy move, U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger has rejected a request by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to stay her order requiring the state to recognize the out-of-state same-sex marriages of three Tennessee couples while Haslam appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Trauger issued a short opinion explaining why on March 20.
Trauger had issued her order in Tanco v. Haslam on March 14, finding that the plaintiffs … <Read More>
$1.6 Million Damage Award Upheld in New York City Human Rights Religion/Sexual Orientation Case
The N.Y. Appellate Division, 1st Department, in Manhattan upheld an award of $1.6 million damages on a jury verdict rendered under the New York City Human Rights Law to Mirella Salemi, on her discrimination claim against Gloria’s Tribeca, Inc. and its owner, Edward Globokar. Salemi v. Gloria’s Tribeca Inc., 2014 WL 1057328, 2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 01838 (March 20, 2014).
Salemi, identified in various media sources but not in the court’s opinion as a lesbian, … <Read More>
Victory Put on Hold, and More Holds Looming in Marriage Equality Struggle
The way to achieve marriage equality right away is to persuade a state legislature and governor or to secure a final order from the highest appellate court of a state holding that same-sex couples are entitled to marry. Last year we saw this scenario unfold in several states, including most spectacularly in Hawaii and Illinois and New Jersey and New Mexico.
The way to achieve marriage equality eventually, perhaps, is to win a ruling from … <Read More>
Tennessee Federal Judge Orders State to Recognize Three Same-Sex Marriages
U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger signed an order in Tanco v. Haslam, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33463, on March 14 directing the state of Tennessee to recognize the same-sex marriages of three couples while their lawsuit is being considered by the court. Granting a motion for preliminary relief filed by the couples’ attorneys, Abby Rubenfeld of Nashville and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Judge Trauger concluded that it was likely that the plaintiffs … <Read More>
New Developments in Marriage Equality Cases in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania
1. Palladino v. Corbett, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27154 (E.D. Pa., March 4, 2014) – This is the marriage recognition case pending in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. A right-wing Christian group calling itself “Philadelphia Metro Task Force” petitioned to intervene as co-defendants, in order to make arguments about morality and family values in opposition to the plaintiffs. This is a case where the state’s Attorney General has refused to defend the state’s marriage ban … <Read More>
Federal Judge Rules for Marriage Equality in Texas; Decision Stayed Pending Appeal to the 5th Circuit
U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia of the Western District of Texas, San Antonio, ruled on February 26 that Texas has shown no rational basis for depriving same-sex couples of the right to marry or for refusing to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Adding yet another brick to the solid wall of federal trial court decisions that has been mounting since last summer, when a judge in Ohio ordered that state to recognize an out-of-state … <Read More>
Another Window Opens for Early Marriages in Illinois
A federal judge who ruled in December that the Cook County (Illinois) Clerk could not delay issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples when one of the intended spouses was critically ill has moved a step further, granting a summary judgment motion requiring the Cook County Clerk to implement the state’s new marriage equality law immediately. Consequently, on February 21 it is possible for same-sex couples to get married in Cook County (Chicago and inner suburbs).… <Read More>
Mohawk-Sporting Flight Attendant Loses Discrimination Suit Upon Court’s Reconsideration
We previously commented about a December 3, 2013, decision by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, refusing to dismiss an employment discrimination claim by gay Continental flight attendant Ray Falcon, who showed up for work one day sporting what his supervisors called a “Mohawk” haircut that they found unacceptable. In order to meet his flight, Falcon got a co-worker to give him a quick clipping, and he claims to have suffered severe emotional distress as … <Read More>