Even though I have a degree in international business, I have to confess business is not my forte. That's why I'm not entirely sure what to make of news that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is forcing the Ford Motor Company to allow shareholders to decide whether or not the company's non-discrimination employment policy should include
sexual orientation. Shareholder Robert Hurley submitted a proposal removing GLBT protection. Gosh, I wonder if Mr. Hurley is a homophobe or not?
Ford asked the SEC if they could exclude the proposal from their proxy statement since there is a rule allowing businesses to reject proposals dealing with "ordinary business operations". One proposal the SEC let Ford exclude would've limited managers to salaries of $500,000. Ford said Hurley's proposal would hurt its ability to recruit qualified employees and diminish its standing in the GLBT. (More below the fold. Also crossposted at the Big Gay Picture.
The SEC said the rule doesn't apply to this case. So the question here is why the SEC turned Ford down. Is this really standard procedure and there is nothing unusual about it? Or is this another part of the Bush War on Gays that they're hoping will fly under the radar? We're going to look into it, but if any BGPers know their business proxy protocols let us know if this is standard operating procedure or not. All I can say is something smells mighty fishy to me.