The staggering number of companies, which includes heavyweights
like Nike, Aetna, Amazon, American Express, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America,
Barclays, CBS, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, CIGNA, Delta, DirecTV, Facebook, eBay,
General Mills, General Electric, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson &
Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Marriot International, Moody’s, Northrop
Grumman, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Prudential, Staples, Starbucks, Target,
United Airlines, Verizon, Viacom, Visa, Wells Fargo, and Walt Disney among
hundreds of others, all signed an amicus brief filed to the high
court on Thursday.
Why would the Court listen to a bunch of corporations? Because
it’s not only a totally non-partisan effort, ruling in favor of marriage
equality is what is best for business.
According to the brief:
More than seventy percent of Americans live in a state that celebrates and recognizes same-sex marriages. But many states continue to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying, and decline to recognize the valid, existing marriages of citizens married to a spouse of the same sex. This fractured legal landscape harms employers and employees alike.
The brief then goes on to point out why it’s time for same-sex
marriage to be legal throughout the land.
Inconsistent state marriage laws impose an added economic burden on American businesses at an estimated cost of over one billion dollars per year.
Discriminatory state laws force amici to implement inconsistent policies across the various jurisdictions in which we operate, our stated corporate principles of diversity and inclusion notwithstanding. Our ability to grow and maintain our businesses by attracting and retaining the best employee talent is hindered.
The patchwork of statelaws applicable to same-sex marriage thus impairs our business interests and employer/employee relations. If the Court were to affirm the decision below, the costs and uncertainty imposed by inconsistent state marriage laws will only continue. In contrast, reversal will reduce current costs, administrative burden, and diversion of resources from our core businesses.
The brief then went into further detail and nailed the reason why
marriage equality is good for business.
Inconsistent marriage laws force companies to divert significant time and money to the creation and maintenance of complex administrative systems needed to differentiate treatment of otherwise indistinguishable employees based on the different marriage laws of the places where they live.
These differences can create rifts in the employer-employee relationship. Employers are better served by a uniform marriage rule that gives equal dignity to employee relationships. Allowing same-sex couples to marry improves employee morale and productivity, reduces uncertainty, and removes the wasteful administrative burdens imposed by the current disparity of state law treatment.
In conclusion, Corporate America emphatically stated that
“diversity and inclusion strengthen, not weaken, our businesses.”
Employees with partners of the same sex should be permitted to marry if they so choose, and then should be treated identically to their married heterosexual counterparts. State laws that require otherwise impose a significant burden on us and harm our ability to attract and retain the best employees. Such laws force businesses to uphold discriminatory laws that run counter to important corporate values. In the end, economic growth suffers.
In short, conservatives who insist that same-sex marriage should
be banned now have to fight against 379 American corporations.
It’s true that
the Supreme Court could just ignore the brief, but the current court has been
particularly keen to rule in favor of business interests.
And since marriage
equality is good for business, it’s unlikely that the amicus brief signed by
this massive list of companies won’t at the very least by taken into
consideration by the Justices when they make their decision.
The LGBT community
just gained corporate America as its most important ally, and that could be a
major assist of historical significance.