Stacey Schuett and Lesley Taboada-Hall lived together for thirty years and raised two children together. (You can see their family in the photo above.) When Taboada-Hall passed away in June of 2013 from uterine cancer, her long-time employer, FedEx, should have signed over her pension benefits to her wife and children. And they would have, if the couple had been straight -- or if Taboada-Hall had managed to stay alive for just six more days.
That's because Taboada-Hall passed away on June 20, 2013, six days before the Supreme Court's long-awaited decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. After waiting for years for the chance to legally marry, the couple finally tied the knot on June 19 at Taboada-Hall's deathbed.
While this may seem like a simple case of bad luck and bad timing, Schuett had California law on her side. The state actually allows courts to establish the existence of a marriage after the ceremony, and a superior court a delayed marriage certificate declaring their June 20th wedding legally binding. For all intents and purposes, the law considers the two women to have been spouses on the day of Taboada-Hall's death.
So why is FedEx insisting that the certificate is void and the marriage invalid? The company even freely admits that if the wedding had taken place a few days later, they wouldn't be fighting to keep Taboada-Hall's family from collecting her pension. This would all be horrible enough on its own, but making matters worse is the fact that Stacey Schuett was a stay at home mother for most of the couple's relationship, meaning that without this pension she has few resources to support herself.
FedEx claims to be a leader in its industry, with supposedly LGBT-friendly workplace policies, but their actions say otherwise. The company can wait until a court forces them to take action, or they can settle now before they've completely destroyed their reputation. Let's make sure they hear that message loud and clear.
Please sign this petition demand that FedEx do the right thing and recognize Stacey Schuett and Lesley Taboada-Hall's marriage!
