Langan v. St. Vincent's Hospital of New York
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division
802 N.Y.S.2d 476 (2005)
Langan (plaintiff) and his same-sex partner Spicehandler entered a Vermont civil union in 2000, when same-sex marriage was not yet legal in New York, and returned to New York where Spicehandler was later fatally injured by a car and treated (unsuccessfully) at St. Vincent's Hospital (defendant); Langan sued for wrongful death under New York's statute permitting recovery to "surviving spouses," and the hospital moved to dismiss for lack of standing since the two were never legally married. The trial court denied the motion, and the hospital appealed.
Whether a wrongful-death statute that permits distributions to surviving spouses discriminates against same-sex couples in states where same-sex marriage is illegal.