Harris v. Millennium Hotel
330 P.3d 330
Alaska2014Background
- Kerry Fadely, a Millennium Hotel manager, was killed at work in October 2011; Millennium conceded the death was compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
- Deborah Harris, Fadely’s long-term same-sex partner, filed for workers’ compensation death benefits in March 2012; she and Fadely had a financially interdependent, committed relationship and a domestic-partnership affidavit.
- The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board denied benefits because the statute awards death benefits only to a worker’s "widow or widower," and Harris was not legally married to Fadely in Alaska.
- The Board and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission declined to decide the constitutional challenge and affirmed denial under existing statutory definitions and precedent (Ranney).
- The Alaska Supreme Court granted review of whether the statutory restriction, construed alongside Alaska’s Marriage Amendment, violated the Alaska Constitution’s equal protection guarantee, and remanded for further proceedings after finding a constitutional violation.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Marriage Amendment bars equal protection challenge to denying death benefits to same-sex partners | Harris: Marriage Amendment does not prevent courts or legislature from extending benefits to same-sex partners; constitutional challenge permissible | Millennium: Marriage Amendment should be read to preclude same-sex couples from receiving benefits available to married couples | Court: Marriage Amendment does not bar Harris’s equal protection claim (relied on State v. Schmidt) |
| Whether the workers’ compensation death-benefits scheme (limiting benefits to "widow/widower") violates equal protection when applied to same-sex surviving partners | Harris: Same-sex surviving partners are similarly situated to opposite-sex spouses; exclusion denies equal protection because they cannot marry under Alaska law | Millennium: Statute is marriage-neutral and permissible legislative line-drawing per Ranney; denial based on marital status, not sexual orientation | Court: Statute facially discriminates between same-sex and opposite-sex couples; Harris’s class is similarly situated and exclusion lacks fair and substantial relation to statutory purposes; violates Alaska equal protection |
| Appropriate level of scrutiny and whether means serve ends (administrative efficiency, cost savings) | Harris: Economic interest only; minimal scrutiny applies and cost/administrative arguments insufficient; marriage cannot serve as proxy for same-sex couples barred from marrying | Millennium: Minimum scrutiny; marriage is a permissible proxy to avoid ad hoc inquiries and control costs (Ranney) | Court: Applied minimum scrutiny (economic interest) and held that administrative efficiency and cost savings do not substantially relate to denying same-sex partners eligibility because marriage cannot serve as proxy for them |
| Remedy and next step | Harris: Remand for factual determination on dependency/entitlement | Millennium: Affirm denial | Court: Vacated denial and remanded to Commission/Board for individualized factual proceedings consistent with opinion |
Key Cases Cited
- Ranney v. Whitewater Eng’g, 122 P.3d 214 (Alaska 2005) (upheld using marriage as administrative proxy for awarding death benefits to dependents)
- Alaska Civil Liberties Union v. State, 122 P.3d 781 (Alaska 2005) (held statutory/constitutional framework could facially discriminate against same-sex couples and analyzed Marriage Amendment scope)
- State v. Schmidt, 323 P.3d 647 (Alaska 2014) (rejected broad reading of Marriage Amendment and held state may offer benefits to same-sex domestic partners identical to spouses)
- Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) (invalidated broad, discriminatory state action under federal equal protection principles)