Today, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Social Security Administration (SSA) dismissed their Ninth Circuit appeals of two nationwide class actions won by Lambda Legal in favor of surviving same-sex spouses and partners denied equal access to social security survivor’s benefits.
Lambda Legal has won victories in two class action lawsuits on behalf of surviving same-sex partners and spouses across the country who were denied Social Security survivor’s benefits because they were unable to be married for at least nine months before their partners and spouses died because of discriminatory state marriage laws.