COMPANIES RESIST GAY BENEFITS: From the Boston Herald

Most of corporate America hasn't embraced the idea of extending health benefits to same-sex spouses in the wake of Massachusetts' historic legalization of gay marriages, a survey released yesterday shows.

About 40 percent of human resources officials at 216 companies nationwide said they would reject any request by employees if they requested health benefits for same-sex spouses, said a survey by consulting firm Aon Corp.

Another 28 percent said they don't know what they would do if asked.

But a third said their companies would extend health benefits to same-sex spouses. ...

Peter Marathas, an employee-benefits lawyer with Boston's Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC, said Massachusetts-based corporations that deny health benefits to same-sex spouses would run afoul of state anti-discrimination laws.

But it's more complex for out-of-state corporations with operations in Massachusetts, he said.

Vickie Henry, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Bar Association, said she believes out-of-state firms would legally have to provide health benefits to same-sex spouses, based on state laws.

But she agreed that the day may come when a firm refuses to do so, triggering a legal confrontation. "It's waiting to be tested," she said.

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