Last month, a California judge ruled in favor of three same-sex couples in a lawsuit against the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which is more commonly known as CalPERS. In the employment law case, the couples alleged that the denial of their right to purchase state-sponsored long-term care insurance was improper because that denial was based on two federal laws which wrongly prohibit same-sex spouses from receiving such benefits.

The federal laws in question are the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and a specific section of the Internal Revenue Code which bars same-sex spouses from receiving favorable tax treatment in regards to insurance plans.

All three couples were married during a five-month period in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legally recognized by the state of California. One member of each of the couples works for the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, which makes each a state employee and therefore eligible for state-sponsored long-term care insurance.

However, CalPERS has allegedly refused to make the insurance available to the spouses based on the two federal laws at issue. Because future long-term care insurance benefits and premiums are generally exempt from state or federal taxation, they are not awardable to same-sex spouses based on the DOMA and the Internal Revenue Code regulations, CalPERS said.

After the three couples filed an employment lawsuit, CalPERS moved to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken issued a ruling allowing the couples to proceed with their case, based on the fact that DOMA and the tax code violate the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, Wilken said, the laws "do not bear a rational relationship to a legitimate government interest."

As one of many current challenges to state and federal laws regarding same-sex marriage, it will be interesting to see how this case plays out.

Source: San Jose Mercury News, "U.S. Judge allows gay and lesbian couples' lawsuit against CalPERS to proceed", 20 January 2011