ConocoPhillips reverses antigay policy

When Conoco and Phillips Petroleum merged last August, the newly formed oil company, the third-largest in the nation, rescinded Conoco's policy banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. That action didn't become public until February 6, however, when a ConocoPhillips employee tipped off the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group based in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, six days after the action was made public, Houston-based ConocoPhillips reversed itself and restored the sexual orientation protection. "ConocoPhillips is and always has been deeply committed to fair and nondiscriminatory treatment for all employees," the company's management committee said in a statement. "The management committee has amended the company's EEO policy to include the term 'sexual orientation' to more accurately reflect this commitment." ExxonMobil, the nation's largest U.S. oil company, rescinded Mobil's nondiscrimination policy and closed its domestic-partnership program in a merger in 1999. ChevronTexaco Corp., Amerada Hess, Shell Oil Co., BP, Marathon Oil Corp., Occidental Petroleum, Sunoco Inc., and Valero Energy Corp. all ban bias based on sexual orientation.