Worker Files Discrimination Charges against US Govt
Employment Law January 15, 2010
San Francisco - A federal employee has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Obama administration for not recognizing her same-sex marriage which prevents her wife to receive spouse benefits.In a complaint filed on Wednesday, Karen Golinski, a lawyer for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, said the US Office of Personnel Management has refused to extend the benefits to her wife since there is a federal law prohibiting the government to recognize marriage between same-sex.
The office has defended its decision saying that the US Justice Department said that extending the benefits to same-sex spouses violates the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996.
Meanwhile, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski called the decision “a clear example of illegal discrimination.”