Gay man wins lawsuit against Catholic employer who refused to give his husband health care benefits

Two men marry, surrounded by wedding party, in New Orleans, LA on November 11, 2017
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A federal judge has ruled that the non-profit Catholic Relief Services violated federal laws against sex discrimination when it denied health insurance benefits to the male spouse of a gay employee, rejecting their argument that they have a religious right to discriminate in employment.

The employee, identified in court papers as “John Doe” to protect his privacy, claimed that after being told that that CRS’s insurance plan provided health coverage for employees and their spouses regardless of sex when he was hired in 2016, his husband’s coverage was dropped in 2017 because same-sex spouses are not, in fact, covered.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake said that exemptions to federal laws against sex discrimination for religious-based organizations do not apply in this case because Doe’s job as a data analyst was not part of the Baltimore-based organization’s religious mission.

“CRS insists that any judicial inquiry into this case inevitably requires an inquiry into matters of Catholic faith and doctrine,” wrote Blake. “This is not so; this case concerns a social service organization’s employment benefit decisions regarding a data analyst and does not involve CRS’s spiritual or ministerial functions.”

Blake noted that secular jobs are…

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