Shahar v. Bowers
United States Appeals Court for the Eleventh Circuit
114 F.3d 1097 (1997)
Robin Shahar (plaintiff) accepted a staff attorney position with the Georgia Attorney General's office and disclosed plans to 'marry' her female partner (a union Georgia did not legally recognize), inviting some office colleagues to the ceremony; upon learning of this, Attorney General Bowers (defendant), advised by senior staff, withdrew Shahar's job offer, reasoning her employment would create the appearance of the office's 'tacit approval' of same-sex marriage and undermine its credibility, particularly given the office's role defending Georgia's laws (including a sodomy law upheld by the Supreme Court not long before). Shahar sued for violations of her associational, equal protection, and substantive due process rights; the district court granted the Attorney General summary judgment, and Shahar appealed.
Whether the constitutional rights of a woman are violated where her offer to work as a staff attorney in a state Attorney General's office is withdrawn because of her 'marriage' to another woman.