SPRINGFIELD, MO – 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.
Last November, 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.