Maryland may be one of the first states to consider how the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in an LGBTQ+ rights case, Bostock v. Clayton County, plays a broader role in interpreting two state anti-discrimination statutes, with a potential opinion coming as early as September.
In the present case, a gay plaintiff identified as “John Doe” sued his employer, Catholic Relief Services, a social services agency constituted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a workplace discrimination case. Doe, a data analyst, alleges that CRS abruptly terminated his legal spouse’s health benefits after more than a year of coverage when the organization discovered the couple’s homosexual marriage—despite Doe’s disclosures about his relationship.
