View Equality Principles Resolution

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the City’s five Pension Funds, said today that he will renew the call for Delta Airlines to adhere to policies prohibiting discrimination based gender identity. Thompson’s announcement comes after 8.9 percent of Delta shares were voted yesterday in support of the City’s resolution calling on the company to amend its non-discrimination policy.

“I am pleased with the strong level of support this resolution received at Delta’s annual meeting, and plan to resubmit this measure until Delta realizes that it must advance equal treatment for all in the LGBT community,” Thompson said. “Corporate America must be a leader, not an obstacle, on the road to equality.”

Preliminary voting totals showed that more than 6.3 million shares were voted in the resolution’s favor, nearly triple the percentage needed to allow the City to resubmit the measure next season. The City’s funds hold 668,332 Delta shares valued at more than $2.2 million.

The measure was filed on behalf of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

The Atlanta-based Delta was the only one of three companies to resist efforts by the City’s funds to agree to adhere to the Equality Principles, a 10-point code of conduct aimed at advancing workplace equality by barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The two other companies, Toys ‘R’ Us of Wayne, N.J., and the Cerner Corporation of Kansas City, MO, agreed to amend their policies and practices to encompass the 10 principles. The Comptroller subsequently withdrew the City’s proposals.

Over the last few years, the City’s has urged dozens of Fortune 500 companies to adopt policies that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. To date, 32 companies have amended or agreed to amend their policies.

This season, the City targeted: AGCO Corp. of Duluth, GA; Alltel of Little Rock, AR; ExxonMobil of Irving, TX; Alcoa of Pittsburgh, PA; Dana Corp. of Toledo, OH; BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem, NC; Owens-Illinois of Toledo, OH; EchoStar Communications of Englewood, CO; Coventry Healthcare of Bethesda, MD; Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, CA; Fisher Scientific of Hampton, N.H.; Harrah’s Entertainment of Las Vegas, NV; Universal Health Services of King of Prussia, PA; Advance Auto Parts of Roanoke, VA; Land America Financial Group of Richmond, VA; and United States Steel of Pittsburgh, PA. Thompson, as well, joined Trillium Asset Management in co-sponsoring a proposal submitted to Reliant Resources of Houston, TX.

Of this group, AGCO, Fisher Scientific, Reliant, Altell, US Steel, Alcoa, Owens-Illinois, Coventry Healthcare, Reliant, Dana, and BB&T agreed to change policies to bar such discrimination. Harrah’s subsequently made its proposal public, so the City withdrew its proposal.

The trustees of the city’s five pension systems are:

NYCERS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Carroll (Carl) Haynes, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

TRS: Comptroller Thompson; Commissioner Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Comptroller Thompson; Mayor Bloomberg; Commissioner Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.

BERS: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Phillip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Augusta Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Jacquelyn Kamin (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of D.C. 37, Local 372.

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