Thomas v. Sullivan

Gertrude Thomas (plaintiff) and Joseph Thomas lived together for 47 years. In 1978, Gertrude applied to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for wife’s-insurance benefits under the Social Security Act. Joseph submitted a statement attesting that the couple had been married by a clergyman in 1943 after Joseph’s first wife, Janie Mills, died. The SSA approved the benefits, and they automatically converted to widow’s benefits when Joseph died in 1985. However, shortly after Joseph’s death, Mills applied for benefits as Joseph’s widow, submitting a marriage certificate. When the SSA’s records’ search confirmed there was no evidence Joseph and Janie divorced, the SSA determined Janie to be Joseph’s lawful widow and ceased Gertrude’s benefits. Gertrude requested reconsideration, arguing that even if her marriage was invalid, she was nevertheless entitled to benefits as a deemed widow because she believed in good faith the marriage was valid. She claimed that she had obtained a Georgia marriage license, been married by an Atlanta minister, and relied on the minister to file the marriage certificate. Further, she said that Joseph told her he was divorced. The SSA found no evidence that a marriage license had been issued or a marriage certificate had been filed. Consequently, the SSA held that Gertrude was not a deemed widow because such classification applied only to invalid ceremonial marriages, not invalid common-law marriages, and there was no evidence of a ceremonial marriage. Gertrude sued Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan (defendant), alleging that treating invalid common-law marriages differently from invalid ceremonial marriages violated equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. The district court disagreed, and Gertrude appealed to the Second Circuit.