American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Legal Director Tony Rothert sent a letter Oct. 8 to Todd A. Johnson of the Ozark Fire District informing him that the district is required to offer spousal benefits to its married employees, regardless of their sexual orientation. Despite state and federal court rulings striking down the 2004 Missouri Constitutional amendment that bans marriage between same-sex couples, the Ozark Fire District refuses to offer equal benefits to same-sex spouses, so on Nov. 24, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit on behalf of Andrea “Andi” Mooneyham against the Ozark Fire Protection District.
“After the court’s decision in Barrier v. Vasterling, Missouri law no longer allows government entities to ignore marriages,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “Captain Mooneyham puts her life on the line at work and should receive the same benefits to other married firefighters and their families.”
A lawsuit against the Ozark Fire Protection District was dismissed today by agreement of the parties. The District will pay a former captain for spousal benefits that the District had denied to her spouse.
In November 2014, the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit on behalf of Andrea “Andi” Mooneyham, then a captain in the Ozark Fire Protection District, who had married Tara Muck in California in July 2013. The District refused to extend spousal benefits to Muck because both Mooneyham and Muck are women. Even after Missouri began recognizing the out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples last October, the District continued to ignore their marriage.
“The Ozark Fire Protection District refused to treat Captain Mooneyham the same as other employees—denying her spousal benefits even after it was clear that doing so is unconstitutional,” explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “Mooneyham put her life on the line every day, just like the other fire fighters, but when it came to benefits, the District treated her like a second-class citizen.”
“Government employers cannot pick and choose which marriages to recognize,” said Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri. “All legal marriages must be treated the same.”
The case was dismissed as a part of a settlement after the District agreed to compensate Mooneyham for the benefits she should have received and pay her attorneys’ fees.