Exxon to Offer Benefits to Married Same-Sex Couples
Photo Credit: David Duprey/AP
The company says it will recognise “all legal marriages” when it determines eligibility for health care plans for the company’s 77,000 employees and retirees in America.
That means if a gay employee has been married in a state or country where gay marriage is legal, his or her spouse will be eligible for benefits with Exxon in the United States as of 1 October.
Exxon, which is facing a same-sex discrimination complaint in Illinois, said it was following the lead of the US government. In June, the US supreme court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which had allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. In recent months, federal agencies have begun to offer benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
“We haven’t changed our eligibility criteria. It has always been to follow the federal definition and it will continue to follow the federal definition,” said an Exxon spokesman, Alan Jeffers, in an interview.
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