Maryland’s Sex, Pay Bias Laws Don’t Cover Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation isn’t a protected characteristic under the sex bias provisions of Maryland job discrimination law or the state’s equal pay law, a divided Maryland Supreme Court said.

The 4-3 opinion issued Monday addressed certified questions from a federal district court in the case of a gay Catholic Relief Services data analyst whose employment-related health insurance coverage for his husband was terminated after the organization said it had been mistakenly approved.

The majority rejected the analyst’s contention that a landmark 2020 US Supreme Court decision recognizing sexual orientation discrimination as prohibited sex and pay bias under federal law required the ...