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Loading ...ExxonMobil continues fight against LGBT worker rights
05.28.2009 3:29pm EDT
(Dallas, Texas) Shareholders at the world’s largest oil company continue to reject a proposal to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the company’s official equal employment opportunity policy.
The latest attempt was made Wednesday at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Dallas by two large shareholders - the New York City Comptroller and New York City Pension Funds, and by the LGBT rights group Human rights Campaign.“ExxonMobil continues to have the dubious distinction of being the only Fortune 50 company that refuses to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination policy, and is stuck in the ever-shrinking minority of businesses that don’t offer domestic partner benefits,” said Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Joe Solmonese.
“It is irresponsible for ExxonMobil to ignore overwhelming shareholder support and not to join the majority of companies that provide equal protections and benefits to all families.”
Over the past decade, proposals to add gender identity and sexual orientation protections have been voted down. This year, 39.3 percent of shares were voted in favor of the policy, compared to 8.2 percent in 2000.
Shareholder support for the proposal has slowly increased each year it has been filed. In 2007, it was supported by 37.7 percent of shares voted; in 2006, it was supported by 34.6 percent of shares voted; and in 2005, it was supported by 29.4 percent.
ExxonMobil is the only company in America to have had a written non discrimination clause that included gays and to have rescinded it.
LGBT workers had been included in employment policies at Mobil. In December 1999 when Mobil merged with Exxon and under Exxon’s direction, the policy was abandoned. At the same time, it closed Mobil’s domestic partner benefits program to any more employees.
Twenty-four members of Congress, and thousands of stockholders and consumers, wrote to ExxonMobil Chairman Lee R. Raymond in December 1999 to protest the policy reversals. In January 2000, stockholders and activists protested at a company facility in Houston, causing the facility to close for the day. Current Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson has maintained the same position on ExxonMobil’s policies.
A total of 423 – 85 percent – of Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies and 176 – more than 35 percent – include gender identity, including ExxonMobil competitors BP Corp., Chevron Corp., Dow Chemical, DuPont and Shell Oil.
“While the rest of corporate America recognizes and respects the diversity of their workforce, ExxonMobil continues to resist the most basic protections that should be afforded to all Americans,” said Solmonese.
Time for a boycott? You should have been boycotting Exxon from the beginning.
Besides their anti-gay positioning, the oil spill in 1989 caused by their reckless shipping practices constitutes a pretty good example of ecocide. The fact that they still use a large number of single-hull tankers even now is frightening.
All of the other major oil companies are much better for LGBT rights than ExxonMobil.
The top five oil companies are ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips. Of these, RDS, BP and Chevron all have CEI ratings of 100 from the HRC. ConocoPhillips gets a 60, but it’s still much better than ExxonMobil’s zero.
Don’t buy ExxonMobil gasoline if you can avoid it. Don’t feed the bottom lines of a company that doesn’t want to feed your family.
Glad that two Mobil gas stations in Rochester area went out of business. Good bye, bigots!
Fortunately, I have other choices like BP, Shell, Freestate (an all-cash gas station. Those, not Exxon-Mobil are the closest ones to my home, so I don’t have to rely on Exxon. Even if I had to drive farther to avoid Exxon, I would. As another poster said, I too for years avoided Exxon because of the ruination of Alaska’s Prince William Sound byu the Valdez negligent accident and because Exxon ended Mobil’s domestic partner benefits when it acquired Mobil as well as for the continued refusal to to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the company’s official equal employment opportunity policy.
I once called Exxon and I was told that Exxon honors the national laws of each country it is in regarding civil unioned or same-sex married employees but said that since it is not national-level law here they will not recognize such here.
There are other petroleum companies that don’t follow Exxon’s example, I need to refresh myself on which ones those are. But I have avoided Exxon for years and will continue to do so and making sure my car is fully loaded with gas before any long car trips in order to be able to avoid all Exxon stations in areas where they are the only gas stations.
Boycott against Mobil/Exxon. Dont buy their products!
Another reason why I never will use Exxon/Mobile products.
Wait a sec. How in the World can they still do this? oh wait its texas. Abort Texas!!!
I’ve been boycotting Exxon-Mobil ever since the Exxon Valdez catastrophe in Alaska. Now I’ve another reason to continue to stay clear of this gas giant
What do you mean, start a boycott?? I’ve been boycotting ExxonMobile for as long as I can remember. I’ve come really close to running out of gas in some rural areas, but I refuse to buy a nickel’s worth of gas from these bigots. I urge you to join me, if you aren’t already doing so.
Boycotting may be the way we have to go. That is my plan! No more Mobil or Exxon products for me!
i never use exxon, but what other gas stations do they own?
This is one BOYCOTT that would work… just let everyone you know – know about this and ask them to avoid Exxon until they wake up and do the right thing!
Yet another reason why I don’t use Exxon.
Time for another boycott? Continue the boycot! Please become aware that HRC updates its Corporate Equality Index. Money talks.
http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/cei.htm
yep
Time for another BOYCOT