ExxonMobil Fails Again to Protect Gay Workers

More ExxonMobil shareholders than ever voted to support a resolution to add sexual orientation and gender identity as categories to the company's nondiscrimination policy, though they were unable to win a full majority. The percentage of shareholders in favor of the policy change has grown of the last nine years, with 39.6% of shareholders voting in favor of the policy this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. This year's vote was the first to include gender identity.

"ExxonMobil continues to have the dubious distinction of being the only Fortune 50 company that refuses to add sexual orientation and gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy and is stuck in the ever-shrinking minority of businesses that don't offer domestic-partner benefits," said HRC 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."

ExxonMobil's top competitors -- BP. Chevron, Dow Chemical, DuPont, and Shell Oil -- all have nondiscrimination statements inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. ExxonMobil also does not provide domestic-partnership benefits to employees, while a majority of Fortune 500 companies has done so since 2006.

HRC attended ExxonMobil’s annual shareholder meeting in Dallas to present the shareholder resolution, which was filed with the New York City comptroller and New York City Pension Funds.

Before its 1999 merger with Exxon, Mobil's equal employment opportunity policy included sexual orientation and offered its employees domestic-partner benefits. Two dozen members of Congress, with thousands of stockholders and consumers, wrote to ExxonMobil chairman Lee R. Raymond in December 1999 to protest the policy reversals, according to HRC. The next month, stockholders and activists protested at a company facility in Houston, causing the facility to close for the day. (The Advocate)

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Name: Jim Casella
Date posted: 5/29/2008 8:58:00 PM
Hometown: Syracuse, NY

Comment:
It may not make a huge difference, but if every gay person quit buying mobile gas and convinced their str8 friends and family members to do the same, exxon/mobile just might begin to pay attention. All they know is the all mighty dollar, so hit them where they whorship.
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Name: David Tidmore
Date posted: 5/29/2008 5:16:00 PM
Hometown: Dallas

Comment:
But it fits so nicely with their policy of eliminating most all of their US IT positions and moving them to the former eastern block countries and moving all their call centers to the far east. This company cares NOTHING about people, it is all about the bottom line and apparently even 10s of billions in profits per quarter are just not sufficient. Even my close relative who is in a relatively high position within EXXON has major heartburn over EXXON policies. There are MANY choices of oil companies to which we throw an ever increasing portion of our income, so DON'T let EXXON get one cent.
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Name: Darrel Rodekuhr
Date posted: 5/29/2008 4:00:00 PM
Hometown: Walker Minnesota

Comment:
You can bet your bottom dollar this guy will NEVER buy an Exxon/Mobile product in this lifetime...I repeat..NEVER..and I encourage all gay folks to make this commitment to boycott this behind-the-times company in the USA.. Just retrograde behaviour should NOT be tolerated by any fair-minded folk out there. SHAME ON YOU EXXON/MOBILE..get with this century..please!...

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