New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. and the New York City Pension Funds today called on three companies to specifically bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In shareholder resolutions submitted over the last several days, Thompson called on Pilgrims Pride Corp. of Pittsburg, TX, D.R. Horton of Forth Worth, TX, and UGI Corp. of Valley Forge, PA, to change policies to strengthen anti-discrimination protections.

“Corporate America must ensure that all employees receive the same protections and feel safe and secure from harassment and bias in the workplace,” Thompson said. “These measures provide a step toward leveling the playing field for all workers.”

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

Pilgrims Pride is the largest poultry producer in the country. The Funds currently hold 136,496 shares valued at $1,993,146. D.R. Horton is the country’s largest home-building company. The Funds hold 1,138,289 shares valued at $12,293,521. UGI Corporation is an energy company providing natural gas and electric power to eastern Pennsylvania. The Funds have 321,177 shares valued at $8,527,249.

The filings represent the latest chapter in an ongoing effort to target America’s largest companies to combat bias and harassment in the workplace. In January, Thompson and the Funds urged 24 companies – most of which were in the Fortune 500 and all within the Fortune 1000 - to bar such discrimination, nearly twice as many proposals as in the previous proxy season.
The resolutions call for companies that have not already done so to revise their policies to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is the second proxy season in which all new measures include gender identity.

Of the 24 companies, 10 agreed to change policies, while others put the measures before shareholders but the measures did not receive majority votes. The companies that agreed to change policies were: Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Insurance) of Erie, PA; SPX Corporation of Charlotte, NC; Brink’s Company of Richmond, VA; Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, GA; AK Steel Corp. of Middletown, OH; Marshall & Ilsley Corp. of Milwaukee, WI; BorgWarner, Inc. of Auburn Hills, MI; Fidelity National Financial of Jacksonville, FL; Liberty Global, Inc. of Englewood, CO; and Kelly Services, Inc. of Troy, MI.

Additionally this past season, the Funds filed a measure with ExxonMobil for the eighth time, with this season bringing the strongest level of shareholder support ever. The measure calls for ExxonMobil to amend its Equal Employment Opportunity policy to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Shareholder support for the proposal has increased in each subsequent year it has been filed: in May 2008, it was supported by 39.6 percent of shares voted; in 2007, it was supported by 37.7 percent of shares voted.

As a result of the efforts of the Funds and Thompson, to date, 54 companies have amended their policies to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Besides Thompson, the New York City Pension Funds’ trustees 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; Michael Currid, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , 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; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Thomas Drogan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, 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, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

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, Edison O. Jackson, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Luis Peguero (Bronx), Patrick Sullivan (Manhattan), Wendy Gilgeous (Brooklyn), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Joseph D'Amico of the IUOE Local 891 member and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

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