Employers and same-sex couples in Texas will be watching this case — the state’s supreme court has decided that same-sex couples aren’t necessarily entitled to the benefits that come to straight couples automatically.
The Dallas News reports that while the court conceded that same-sex marriage is legal, the “reach and ramifications” of the rights of gay couples have yet to be determined. Translated, gay couples aren’t guaranteed benefits that straight couples are.
The nine-member court actually reversed a lower court’s ruling—unanimously—and told the city of Houston that it can’t extend health and life insurance benefits to the spouses of city employees in same-sex marriages, and sent the case back to the Houston trial court.
HRDive reports that this is the only case of its kind currently being considered, so all eyes are on it to see the outcome—since the precedent it sets could raise questions regarding same-sex couples' benefits for some time, depending on how the lower courts reconsider it.
While the case had originally been refused by the state’s supreme court, prominent Republicans, including the governor, pressured the court into reconsidering.
As a result, the case was unexpectedly reopened so that the Texas court could challenge some of the effects of the Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, particularly with respect to spousal benefits.
The outcome could affect whether employers offer domestic partner benefits rather than spousal benefits—prior to Obergefell, many employers did that in areas where same-sex marriage wasn’t considered legal—or whether they can streamline benefits programs.
The city of Houston hasn’t announced whether it will take the case to the Supreme Court, but it has said that it will continue to offer same-sex partners benefits.
In the report, Sylvestor Turner, mayor of Houston, says, “The City of Houston will continue to be an inclusive city that respects the legal marriages of all employees,” adding, “Marriage equality is the law of the land, and everyone is entitled to the full benefits of marriage, regardless of the gender of their spouse.”
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