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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, today announced that GenCorp, Inc. has agreed to adhere to policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

GenCorp, which is based in Rancho Cordova , CA , notified the Comptroller that it has taken steps to adhere to the Equality Principles, a 10-point code of conduct aimed at advancing workplace equality by prohibiting such discrimination.

GenCorp notified the Comptroller that its management on January 30 th approved steps to update anti-harassment education and training programs and amend its directives "to specifically include and reference sexual orientation and gender identity," effective immediately.

The announcement comes after the New York City Employees' Retirement Fund (NYCERS), Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) for the City of New York, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) filed a shareholder resolution urging GenCorp to comply with the Equality Principles.

"GenCorp has clearly shown that it values its employees," Thompson said. "This represents a victory for everyone involved in the struggle for equality. The Funds will continue their efforts by submitting similar resolutions in the coming months to ask corporate America to give all workers the respect they deserve."

The City now will withdraw its resolution, which was filed late last year . The Funds have 157,132 shares of GenCorp valued at more than $3.1 million.

This proxy season, the Comptroller and the Funds filed similar resolutions with Wendy's International, Inc. of Dublin , OH , and Oneok, Inc. of Tulsa , OK .

The Principles involve the adoption of written employee non-discrimination policies on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. In GenCorp's case, the company did not have a policy on the books to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. But by announcing it would adhere to the Principles, GenCorp has agreed to add language to its policy statement barring such discrimination as well as gender identity.

The Principles request that companies agree to: incorporate non-discrimination language in their employment policy statement; disseminate the statement company-wide; not tolerate discrimination on the basis of any employee's actual or perceived health condition, status or disability; offer equal health insurance and other benefits to employees to cover domestic partners regardless of the employee's marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity; include discussions of sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity as part of official employee diversity and sensitivity training communications; give employee groups equal standing, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression; and, ensure that their advertising policies avoid the use of negative stereotypes.

Additionally, companies agree not to discriminate against advertising, marketing or promoting events on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity, or in the sale of goods or services based on sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity, and not to prohibit charitable contributions to groups and organizations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity.

Last year, the Funds were successful in prompting Toys 'R' Us of Wayne, NJ, and the Cerner Corporation of Kansas City, MO, to amend their policies and practices to encompass the Principles.

The resolutions build on proposals submitted by the Funds for more than a decade asking dozens of Fortune 500 companies to adopt policies that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. To date, three dozen companies have amended their policies to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

This season, the Pension Funds have filed resolutions asking companies to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Comptroller withdrew resolutions after the following companies agreed to change their policies: Baldor Electric Company of Fort Smith , AK , General Dynamic of Falls Church, VA, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay , OH , and Paccar, Inc. of Bellevue , WA , and DTE Energy of Detroit, MI.

Meanwhile, resolutions are still active with Robert Half International, Inc. of Menlo Park, CA, Fortune Brands of Lincolnshire, IL, and ExxonMobil if Dallas, TX.

Besides Thompson, the trustees on the Pension Funds are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: 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: 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.

New York City Employees' Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (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.

New York City Teachers' Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. 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.

Board of Education Retirement System: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Philip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Augusta Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Jesse Mojica (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Vivian Farmery (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 District Council 37, Local 372.

You can view the resolution and GenCorp's letter to the Comptroller at the Comptroller's web site: www.comptroller.nyc.gov .