News Notes: Court Upholds San Francisco Domestic Partner Law

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld San Francisco’s landmark domestic partner benefits ordinance, which requires that companies doing business with the city must offer equal benefits to domestic partners and married spouses of employees. The court rejected a constitutional challenge by an Ohio company whose bid for a contract with the city was refused because the contractor would not agree to comply with San Francisco’s ordinance. The decision, which applies to gay and lesbian couples as well as heterosexual partners, is the first ruling by a federal appeals court upholding such a law.