In what has to be one of the dumbest moves for a major corporation, given the trend to protect gay employees,
ExxonMobil, for the seventh consecutive year has decided that
its non-discrimination policy will exclude sexual orientation. At the oil company's annual meeting Wednesday in Dallas, shareholders voted 29.4 percent in favor of giving LGBT workers protection. It was the highest support the measure has yet received.
ExxonMobil is
the only U.S. company that has ever rescinded a non-discrimination policy covering sexual orientation.
The provision had been available to workers at Mobil. But, in December 1999 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. "ExxonMobil is wasting resources by refusing to write down a policy it says it already has," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
On the "
Guiding Principles" section of its web site, ExxonMobil says the following about its employees:
The exceptional quality of our workforce is a valuable competitive edge. To build on this advantage we will strive to hire and retain the most qualified people available and maximize their opportunities for success through training and development. We are committed to maintaining a safe work environment enriched by diversity and characterized by open communication, trust, and fair treatment.
I guess fairness is for everyone except the homos toiling away at the billion dollar oil giant. Maybe ExxonMobil's
board of directors includes a few closet AmTalibaners.
ExxonMobil's Board of Shame - where is the leadership?
Michael J. Boskin, William W. George, James R. Houghton,
William R. Howell, Reatha Clark King, Philip E. Lippincott,
Henry A. McKinnell, Jr., Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Lee R. Raymond,
Walter V. Shipley,
Rex W. Tillerson (President, Exxon Mobil Corporation).
This is just plain sad, when BP Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Corp., Shell Oil Company, Sunoco Inc., Valero Energy Corp., Marathon Oil Corp. and Williams Companies Inc. all have non-discrimination statements inclusive of sexual orientation.
A list of business addresses for ExxonMobil is
here. A web form for general business communication is
here.
Corporate News Media Desk
Corporate Media - Dallas, Texas
972 444 1107
(Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend and Big Brass Blog)