Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in New York

Re: Marriage recognition by corporat entity

The Company needs to recognize the laws of the state in which it operates. Therefore the entity in VA is required to recognize VA law as you are not operating in NY.

Because I am unaware of Va's position on same sex marriage, I will only make broad assumptions here. As for the marriage license, if the state doesn't recognize your union as valid,either due to public policy positions or state law, then you will need to take the partners benefits. As for the company recognizing your marriage license, the actions of the company is private (unless the company is a state owned entity) and your recourse would need to fall into one of the civil rights categories for you to take action against them. As of now, few area protect sexual orientation as a protected class, and that would extend to same-sex marriages.

Re: Marriage recognition by corporat entity

Yes, I would opine that under the circumstances described, the Virginia branch of this New York company is following prudent legal advice in refusing to grant spousal benefits to you and your partner, particularly in view of the fact that the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn't even allow for civil unions(let alone gay marriage) under its current domestic relations law nor any benefits which might derive from such unions.