We’ve seen companies stand up for same-sex marriage when equality legislation was passing through their headquarters’ state, and now, with the debate set for the federal level, businesses are stepping up on an even grander scale.
More than 200 major companies such as Facebook, Apple, Morgan Stanley, Google, Starbucks, Microsoft, Nike, Intel, AIG and eBAy are submitting amicus curiae, or friend-of-the-court, briefs, urging the Justices to invalidate Proposition 8 and/or strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
In the brief filed on Wednesday, attorney Sabin Willett wrote that DOMA “requires that employers treat one employee differently from another, when each is married, and each marriage is equally lawful.” He went on to explain that DOMA doesn’t create uniformity for businesses nationwide because of the various recognition of same-sex marriages across the states.
“We must do all of this in states, counties and cities that prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and demand equal treatment of all married individuals,” he added.
