New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. and the New York City Pension Funds today urged ExxonMobil to amend its equal employment opportunity policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at its annual shareholder meeting on May 27.

“ExxonMobil has stubbornly refused to afford all of its workers the same protections, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Thompson said. “Each year, the New York City Pension Funds’ resolution gains more and more support. Instead of doing the right thing and amending its policy, ExxonMobil continues to be behind the times and behind its corporate peers.”

“I commend Comptroller Thompson for his leadership in our continuing effort to secure equal opportunity and equal protection under the law for LGBT workers,” said Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President. “I support and fully expect the City Pension Funds to continue to pressure ExxonMobil on this issue until they change their policies to protect their workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”  

This marks the eighth time that the City’s Pension Funds have targeted ExxonMobil. 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.

The Pension Funds are 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.

The Funds have 16,634,155 total shares in Exxon Mobil valued at $1,157,737,188.

The other companies targeted this season 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; 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; Integrys Energy Group, Inc. of Green Bay, WI; Hertz Global Holdings of Park Ridge, NJ; Community Health Systems, Inc. of Franklin, TN; American Financial Group of Cincinnati, OH; Western Refining Inc. of El Paso, TX; Western Union Company of Englewood, CO; Devon Energy of Oklahoma, OK; Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, OK; Timken Company of Canton, OH; HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. of Houston, TX; Holly Corp. of Dallas, TX; Core-Mark Holding Company Inc. of South San Francisco, CA; Anixter International, Inc. of Glenview, IL; and Frontier Oil Corp. of Houston, TX.

Of those, the 17 already agreed to adopt the City’s proposal. They are: UGI Corp., The Pantry, Inc., Autoliv, Inc., FMC Technologies, Genworth, Allegheny, Western Union, Health Management Associates, Integrys Energy Group, Community Health Systems; Timken Company; HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.; Holly Corp.; Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc.; Anixter International, Inc.; Frontier Oil Corp; and, World Fuel Services Corporation of Miami. FL.

As a result of Thompson’s efforts to urge Fortune 1000 companies to combat bias and harassment in the workplace, 72 companies have amended their policies.

The Trustees (chairs in bold) of the New York City Pension Funds are as follows:

New York City Employees’ Retirement System: Bud Larson, Mayor’s Representative (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), James Molinaro (Staten Island), and Ruben Diaz, Jr. (Bronx); 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: Bud Larson, Mayor’s Representative; Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; mayoral appointee Tino Hernandez; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson (Chair) and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Acting Finance Commissioner Michael Hyman; 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 Acting Finance Commissioner Michael Hyman; 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.

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