“If an out-of-state company has a benefit plan and it defines the people getting it as ‘employee and spouse,’ then a person in a marriage by a same-sex couple in California would get the benefit,” said Jon Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal, a nonprofit advocacy organization on gay civil rights issues. “That person is legally the spouse here, so it would apply.”
In their ruling, the justices outlined nine differences between domestic partners and married couples under current state law. For employers, the main difference is that the definition of a married person — and therefore one who is eligible for spousal benefits — is a bit broader.
“For example, to be in a domestic partnership, you have to live together,” Davidson said. “But to be married, you don’t have to have a common residence.
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