Six companies immediately agree to change policies Funds ask three additional companies to adhere to Equality Principles

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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the City’s Pension Funds, has launched an effort urging 15 Fortune 500 companies to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. Thompson asked three additional companies to implement policies that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.

All five funds – except in two cases – have sponsored shareholder proposals submitted over the last few weeks. The New York City Employees’ Retirement Fund (NYCERS), the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) plan to submit proposals to four more companies in the coming months.

“These are extremely important measures that companies should undertake to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and equally,” Thompson said. “Employees are placed at serious risk when companies do not have formal non-discrimination policies in place. The City’s funds will continue to pursue these proposals until corporate America protects all of its employees from discrimination.”

In recent years, the funds have submitted proposals calling for the adoption of a policy that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation to a number of Fortune 500 companies. As a result, 27 companies have now amended or agreed to amend their policies.

The funds are further expanding their efforts in 2005 to ask companies 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 funds have asked the following companies – for the first time - to specifically ban sexual orientation discrimination in their employee policy statements: Alcoa of Pittsburgh, PA; Alleghany Energy of Greensburg, 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; 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.

The funds additionally have resubmitted the proposal with Alltel of Little Rock, AR, and ExxonMobil of Irving, TX. This is the fifth time a City pension fund has asked ExxonMobil to amend its policy.

Altell , US Steel, Alcoa, Owens-Illinois and Coventry Healthcare immediately agreed to change policies to bar such discrimination, and Harrah’s subsequently made its proposal public; accordingly, the Comptroller indicated he would withdraw the City’s proposal.

Further, the funds have asked Toys “R” Us of Wayne, NJ, Cerner Corp. of Kansas City, MO, and, Delta Airlines of Atlanta, GA, to adopt the Equality Principles. Toys “R” Us, the nation’s second-largest toy retailer, has since indicated it planned to seek approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to omit the measure from its 2005 proxy materials.

The funds’ efforts previously prompted 21 companies to revise policies: Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.; CSX; Cracker Barrel; American Electric Power; Duke Energy; CenterPoint Energy; Dynegy; Marathon Oil; JCPenney; Mirant; TXU Corp.; Ingram Micro; Lockheed Martin; FedEx; El Paso Corp.; Masco Corp.; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.; Waste Management, Inc.; Southern Company; and Centex Corp.

Serving with Thompson on the NYCERS board are: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. 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.

In addition to Thompson, trustees on the TRS board are: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; Phillip Berry, New York City Department of Education’s Panel for Educational Policy; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, of the United Federation of Teachers.

Besides Thompson, trustees on the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund are: 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.

In addition to Thompson, trustees on the New York City Police Pension Fund are: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. 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.

The BERS Board of Trustees is comprised of: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Phillip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine 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 Rebecca Marston of District Council 37, Local 372.

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