The parties involved in a same-sex marriage dispute involving a deceased Cozen O’Connor partner and her profit-sharing plan continue to trade court filings and have now officially raised questions regarding the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Pennsylvania’s “mini DOMA.”
The case, Cozen O’Connor v. Tobits , was filed by the law firm as an interpleader action asking the court to have the parents and wife of former partner Sarah Ellyn Farley decide among themselves who should get Farley’s profit-sharing plan benefits. Parents David and Joan Farley argued they were named as beneficiaries on the plan and, in the alternative, the benefits are to go to the parents if no surviving spouse is named. Because federal and Pennsylvania state law do not recognize same-sex marriages, the money automatically defaults to the parents, they argued. They have filed a motion to dismiss the cross-claim by Jennifer Tobits, Ellyn Farley’s wife.
