Employee Benefits Issues in California Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Same-Sex Marriage Decisions
Polsinelli Podcast - Defense of Marriage Act
Supreme Court’s Rulings On Same-Sex Marriage Spark Many Questions On Employee Benefits
Viewer's Guide to Gay Marriage Oral Arguments
The Impact of National Same-Sex Marriage for Employers - Why it matters: How will employers feel the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges? The landmark ruling that the Fourteenth...more
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably are well aware that on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples have a constitutional right to marry and have their marriages recognized across the...more
As has become its custom, the Supreme Court left one of its most high-profile decisions for the end of its term, holding by a 5-4 vote that the Constitution requires states to recognize same-sex marriages. As a result, state...more
In the case of Searcy v. Strange, 2015 WL 328825 (S.D. Ala Jan. 25, 2015), the federal Court for the Southern District of Alabama held that Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Alabama news headlines have...more
As federal and state agencies and courts further examine the implications of the Supreme Court of the United States’ ruling on same-sex marriage in U.S. v. Windsor, the laws and regulations governing employee benefits for...more
In 2013, the United States Supreme Court held, in U.S. v. Windsor, that the Defense of Marriage Act's limitation of "marriage" and "spouse" to heterosexual couples was unconstitutional. Thereafter, President Obama instructed...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking on June 27, 2014, announcing a proposal that would expand the definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include all...more
On Friday, June 20, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its intention to change the regulatory definition of who is a “spouse” for purposes of the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The impetus for the...more
A year after the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed to amend its regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act...more
President Obama plans to announce today a proposed rule that would allow an employee to take FMLA leave to care for a same-sex spouse, regardless of whether the employee lives in a state that recognizes their marital status. ...more
In This Issue: Message from the Chair; Social Media and the Workplace: 2013 and Beyond; Unpaid Internships: Training Ground or Legal Landmine?; Supreme Court’s Nassar Decision Sets Higher Causation Standard for a...more
Here is a brief update to our September 24, 2013 alert, which addressed the administration of employee benefits as well as federal income taxes and FMLA leave following this summer’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in United...more
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), the Employee Benefits Security Administration ("EBSA") and the Department of Labor ("DOL") have recently provided new guidance with respect to how lawfully married same-sex spouses will...more
Following a highly-publicized U.S. Supreme Court decision and subsequent guidance from both the Labor Department (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), employers need to rethink how they treat same-sex spouses under...more
On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court held that Section 3 the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented the federal government from recognizing state-granted same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional because...more
On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which defined “marriage” as strictly between opposite-sex couples and “spouse” as referring only to a...more
Recent guidance issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provides some initial...more
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”) have recently provided new guidance with respect to how lawfully married same-sex spouses will...more
Here's something that should be at the top of your to do list on this Monday morning: make sure your benefits and other employee policies are in compliance with new guidance from the IRS that becomes effective today relating...more
After the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision regarding same-sex marriages in United States v. Windsor this summer, a number of governmental agencies charged with administering employment laws have issued explanations...more
On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court, in United States v. Windsor, held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is...more
Earlier this month, we blogged that it was “Time for Employers to Review Their Family Medical Leave Act Policies Following the Supreme Court’s Decision to Strike Down DOMA.”....more
As almost everyone knows, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two blockbuster decisions on gay marriage, U.S. v. Windsor, which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act's ("DOMA") definition of marriage for the purposes of federal...more
The U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") announced that, as of August 9, 2013, it had updated guidance documents to remove references to the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") in order to affirm the availability of spousal leave...more
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) provision defining marriage as between one man and one woman....more