A baggage agent for SkyWest Airlines in California says that his employer refuses to give his husband the free fares it provides to straight spouses, in breach of a state law that requires employers to treat same-sex spouses equally.
Employee Gilbert Caldwell married David Farrell in June 2008, and existing marriages were upheld by the state supreme court in spite of Proposition 8. In a new kind of case, Caldwell, 56, is asking SkyWest to treat Farrell, 72, the same way it does the spouses of his straight coworkers, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Comment: The California Supreme Court has been very explicit that gay spouses and domestic partners must be treated exactly the same as heterosexual spouses. A suit has an excellent chance of success. I hope the jury and/or judge awards generous punitive damages for the airline's failure to treat gay people equally.
