View resolution

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. and the New York City Pension Funds are urging 29 companies in the Fortune 1000 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the largest number of companies to which the Funds have submitted this proposal in a proxy season.

“Corporations must understand that all employees should receive the same protections, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Thompson said. “Every year, greater numbers of companies make this commitment and guarantee equal treatment in the workplace. I am hopeful that the companies we are approaching with these resolutions will act similarly.”

The measure – which you can view at www.comptroller.nyc.gov - was 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, Teachers' Retirement System of New York (TRS) and New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

This season’s resolution focuses on 29 companies, most of which are in the Fortune 500 (all are within the Fortune 1000). The resolution calls 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 third proxy season in which all new targeted companies have received this proposal that seeks a prohibition against discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity.

The companies are: Pilgrims Pride Corp. of Pittsburg, TX; D.R. Horton of Forth Worth, TX; UGI Corp. of Valley Forge, PA; The Pantry Inc. of Sanford, NC; SYNNEX Corp. of Fremont, CA; Autoliv Inc. of Stockholm, Sweden; Eastman Chemical Corp. of Kingsport, TN; Timken Company of Canton, OH; Allegheny Technologies, Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA; Leggett & Platt Inc. of Carthage, MO; FMC Technologies, Inc. of Houston, TX; Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado, AR; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of The Woodlands, TX; Health Management Associates, Inc. of Naples, FL; Genworth Financial, Inc. of Richmond, VA; Holly Corp. of Dallas, TX; Integrys Energy Group, Inc. of Green Bay, WI; Anixter International, Inc. of Glenview, IL; Hertz Global Holdings of Park Ridge, NJ; Community Health Systems, Inc. of Franklin, TN; HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. of Houston, TX; American Financial Group of Cincinnati, OH; Western Refining Inc. of El Paso, TX; Western Union Company of Englewood, CO; Core-Mark Holding Company Inc. of South San Francisco, CA; World Fuel Services of Miami, FL; Devon Energy of Oklahoma, OK; Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, OK; and, ExxonMobil of Irving, TX.

Already, 10 companies – UGI Corp., The Pantry, Inc., Autoliv, Inc., FMC Technologies, Genworth, Allegheny, Western Union, Health Management Associates, Integrys Energy Group, and Community Health Systems -have agreed with the City’s proposal.

The filings represent the latest chapter in an ongoing effort urging Fortune 1000 companies to combat bias and harassment in the workplace. Last proxy season, Thompson urged 25 companies to prohibit such discrimination, and 12 agreed to do so.

Among those measures was one submitted to ExxonMobil for the eighth time. 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 Pension Funds and Thompson, to date, 66 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:

The New York City Pension Funds are the: New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and Board of Education Retirement System.

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.

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 Sullivan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association.

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; John Dunne, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , Chiefs’ Rep., and James J. McGowan, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

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; 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.

###