-Nine of America’s largest companies already agree with City’s request this season to change policies to ban discrimination-

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, today urged ExxonMobil shareholders to vote on Wednesday, May 28 in favor of their resolution calling on the company to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Shareholders will vote on the proposal at ExxonMobil’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.
The New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and New York City Board of Education Retirement System filed the resolution – which is at www.comptroller.nyc.gov – on November 27, 2007.

“Each year, more of this nation’s largest companies are adopting non-discrimination policies and working to promote a fair and equitable work environment,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, ExxonMobil has continued to resist rather than embrace change. This is simply unacceptable. We must remain steadfast in our efforts to bring about change and urge ExxonMobil to establish equal rights in the workplace.”

“ExxonMobil should catch up to the rest of industry by barring discrimination based on sexual orientation,” said Martha Stark, Finance Commissioner and NYCERS chair. “Investors and employees need to know their company hires and promotes employees based solely on qualifications and performance. Employees need to know they can do their jobs without fear of discrimination or harassment.”

Shareholder support for the proposal has grown in each of the eight years it has been submitted on behalf of the Pension Funds. Last year, 37.7 percent of votes cast were in support of the measure.

The New York City Pension Funds have more than 19 million shares valued at more than $1.7 billion in ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil does not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its Equal Employment Opportunity 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).

In January, Thompson and the Pension Funds announced an unprecedented effort to urge America’s largest companies to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity – nearly twice as many proposals as in the previous proxy season.

“Each year, more companies are making this commitment because they believe in guaranteeing equal treatment in the workplace,” he said at the time. “However, many of this country’s largest corporations still refuse to protect all workers.”

This season’s resolutions focused on 24 companies, most of which are in the Fortune 500 (all are within the Fortune 1000). The Funds hold nearly 30 million shares worth nearly $2.2 billion in those companies.

The companies are: HCC Insurance Holdings of Houston, TX; Timken Company of Canton, OH; ExxonMobil Corp. of Irving, TX; AK Steel Corp. of Middletown, OH; Fidelity National Financial, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL; The Brink’s Company of Richmond, VA; Liberty Global, Inc. of Englewood, CO; Lyondell Chemical Company of Houston, TX; Eastman Chemical Co. of Kingsport, TN; Tesoro Corp. of San Antonio, TX; Apache Corp. of Houston, TX; Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado, AR; Kelly Services, Inc. of Troy, MI; EchoStar Communications Corp. of Englewood, CO; Huntsman Corp. of Salt Lake City, UT; Marshall & Ilsley Corp. of Milwaukee, WI; Frontier Oil Corp. of Houston, TX; Borg Warner. Inc. of Auburn Hills, MI; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of The Woodlands, TX; Synovus Financial Corp. of Columbus, GA; Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Insurance) of Erie, PA; SPX Corporation of Charlotte, NC; American Financial Group, Inc. of Cincinnati, OH; and, Leggett & Pratt, Inc. of Carthage, MO.

Already, management at Erie Indemnity, SPX Corp., The Brink’s Company, Synovus Financial Corp., AK Steel Corp., Marshall & Ilsley Corp, BorgWarner, Inc., Fidelity National Financial, and Liberty Global, Inc. have all agreed to adopt the changes. The Comptroller’s Office has since withdrawn those resolutions.

The resolutions build on proposals submitted by the Pension 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, 50 companies have amended their policies to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. During the last proxy season alone, eight companies agreed to adopt explicit prohibitions against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity: Robert Half, International; Advance Auto Parts; Wesco International, First Horizon Financial, Cleveland-Cliffs, Armor Holdings, Sky West, Inc., and Family Dollar Stores.

Besides Thompson, the New York City Pension Funds’ trustees are:

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 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

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