New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, renewed the call for ExxonMobil to adopt policies that specifically bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Thompson’s announcement comes after 34.6 percent of ExxonMobil shares were voted in support of the City’s proposal calling on the company to change its non-discrimination policy. That vote took place on May 31 st at ExxonMobil’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.

"While its U.S. industry peers and most Fortune 50 companies have adopted explicit, written policies prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, remains the major hold, out of step with the times and sadly entrenched," Thompson said, referring to the Fortune 50. “It is time that ExxonMobil respect the rights of its gay and lesbian employees by adopting policies that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

The vote of 34.6 percent representing 1.75 billion shares is the largest percentage of votes cast in the measure’s favor since the City began submitting the proposals in 1999. Last year, 29.4 percent of votes were cast in favor, which represented more than more than 1.55 billion shares.

The proposal called for ExxonMobil to adopt a policy stating: “Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation diminishes employee morale and productivity….Our company would benefit from a consistent, corporate wide policy to enhance efforts to prevent discrimination, resolve complaints internally, and ensure a respectful and supportive atmosphere for all employees.”

The proposal stated that ExxonMobil does not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its EEO policy, while industry peers – such as Amerada Hess, BP, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum, Shell Oil, and Sunoco – do so, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

More than 80% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted written nondiscrimination policies prohibiting harassment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, as have more than 95% of Fortune 100 companies, HRC reports.

The New York City Pension Funds have nearly 19.9 million shares valued at more than $1.2 billion in ExxonMobil. NYCERS has 7.9 million shares valued at $494 million in ExxonMobil, and the Fire Pension Fund has more than 1 million shares valued at more than $64 million.

Thompson serves on the NYCERS Board of Trustees with: 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.

Besides Thompson, trustees on the 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.

You can view the proposal at the Comptroller’s web site: www.comptroller.nyc.gov.