Ben & Jerry’s One Of 30 Top Corporations Petitioning Supreme Court To Let Gays Marry

Ben & Jerry’s and 29 other top U.S. corporations are asking the Supreme Court to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The religious right has thirty more companies to choose from to boycott for their support of same-sex marriage. 

In an amicus brief set to the U.S. Supreme Court last week, 30 top corporations, many listed on the S&P 100, petitioned the nation’s top justices to “consider a uniform principle that all couples share in the right to marry.”

The companies, many of which operate in most or all U.S.states, point to the “complicated and uncertain landscape of laws” regulating marriage. These law, that ban same-sex marriage in some states, and allow it in others, are a “business detriment,” they complain, “that increase our ad-ministrative costs and level of risk.”

They complain they “are forced to implement inconsistent policies in the various jurisdictions in which we operate,” and explain that “the mandated discrimination underlying these policies violates our stated corporate principles.”

Our ability to grow and maintain our businesses by attracting and retaining the best talent is hindered. This patchwork of state laws applicable to same-sex marriage impairs thus our business interests and employer-employee relations. Respectfully, we ask the Court to grant the petition for certiorari and consider a uniform principle that all couples share in the right to marry. 

On their website yesterday, Ben & Jerry’s explains that “from an HR point of view, it’s plain to see that companies in states that ban same sex marriages may have trouble recruiting folks from other states. From a practical and employee rights perspective, this issue is a big concern to employers in all industries.”

“If you look at the list, you’ve got some very large, mainstream, well-recognized corps and brands, and I think that brings some credibility to the issue— the broader the base of support you have, the more likely it is you’re going to make a change.”

 

Here’s the list. Will anti-gay groups begin their boycotts?

Alcoa Inc.  

Amazon.com, Inc.  

Aspen Skiing Company

Ben & Jerry’s

Bloomberg L.P.

CBS Corporation

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cummins Inc.

Deutsche Bank AG

Eastern Bank Corporation

eBay, Inc.

General Electric Company

Intel Corporation

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, LLC

Levi Strauss & Company

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

NIKE, Inc.

Oracle America, Inc.

Outerwall Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Qualcomm Incorporated

Staples, Inc.

State Street Corporation

SunLife Financial (U.S.) Services Company

Support.com

Symantec

Target

United Therapeutics Corporation  

Viacom

 

Here’s the full brief, via Equality Case Files:

 

Image, top: Ben & Jerry’s. Insert: Facebook
Hat tip: HRC