By Susan Schoenfeld, JD
Senior Legal Editor
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Get Your Report Now!In a surprise decision, Judge Reed O’Connor, from the U.S. District Court in Texas, temporarily blocked the new rule defining “spouse” for purposes of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The new rule, which defines FMLA-covered spouses according to the law of the state in which individuals were married, was scheduled to take effect today.
In the case brought by the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nebraska, the state attorneys general argued that FMLA’s “state of celebration” rule violates the federal Full Faith and Credit Statute because it contradicts Section 2 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Section 2 of DOMA says that “No State . . . shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State . . . respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State . . ..” In the lawsuit, the states argue that the new rule violates Section 2, as well as state laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting same-sex marriage, because it requires employers covered by the FMLA to recognize same-sex marriages, as well as same-sex marriages that were entered into in other states.
Judge O’Connor’s decision temporarily halts the FMLA’s “state of celebration” rule until a hearing is held on April 13, 2015. Any future decision by the judge will most likely be affected by four cases currently pending before U.S. Supreme Court. The lead case before the high court, Obergefell v. Hodges, will answer the following questions:
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
- Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.
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 Susan Schoenfeld, JD, is a Senior Legal Editor for BLR’s human resources and employment law publications. Ms. Schoenfeld has practiced in the area of employment litigation and counseling, covering topics such as disability discrimination, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, and general employment discrimination. She has litigated numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals, state court, and at the U.S. Department of Labor.
In addition to litigating employment cases in state and federal court, she provided training and counseling to corporate clients regarding employment-related issues. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Schoenfeld was an attorney with the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., where she advised federal agencies, drafted regulations, conducted inspector training courses, and litigated cases for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Directorate of Civil Rights, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Ms. Schoenfeld received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, with honors, from Union College, and her law degree from the National Law Center at George Washington University.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Susan at sschoenfeld@blr.com for more information on this topic
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