9th Circuit Court Employees Entitled To Health Benefits For Same-Sex Domestic Partners

In In re Fonberg,(9th Cir. Jud. Council, Nov. 25, 2013), the Executive Committee of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council held unconstitutional the U.S.Office of Personnel Management’s denial of health benefits to the same-sex domestic partner of a law clerk formerly employed by the Oregon federal district court.  The Executive Committee held that this discrimination against domestic partners, vis-a-vis married opposite-sex and married same-sex couples, violated the equal protection and due process rights of the law clerk. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the decision. [Thanks to How Appealing for the lead.]