Trillium One of 70 Business Amici to Challenge DOMA

Boston, November 2011 — Trillium Asset Management, LLC was proud to be listed among 70 major employers  listed on an amicus brief in support of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). The brief addresses the burdens on business caused by DOMA, such as how it forces employers to treat employees with same-sex spouses disadvantageously compared to other married employees and imposes extra costs. Aetna, National Grid, Chubb, Google and Time Warner were some of the 60 other businesses represented by the brief, which was also signed by a number of law firms, professional, trade and civic organizations, and the cities of Boston, New York and Cambridge.

The brief makes the case that, “This dual regime [of unequal recognition of marriage by the federal government] uniquely burdens administrative complexity, and regardless of our business or professional judgment forces us to discriminate against a class of our lawfully-married employees, upon whose welfare and morale our own success in part depends.”

Ten additional amicus briefs were submitted by members of Congress, academics and historians, unions, civil rights organizations, bar associations and others. For more information and to download the briefs, visit here.