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See also the following sections of this website:

• Gender discrimination in the workplace
• Racial/ethnic/origin discrimination, including in the workplace
• Discrimination against people with disabilities, including in the workplace
• Age discrimination in the workplace
• AIDS/HIV discrimination, including in the workplace
• Labour issues - General

[under construction]

International standards:

United Nations & ILO websites:

Other websites:

Labor Law - Labor Law is a unique Internet database of detailed labor law reports and supply chain compliance resources [a paid service for subscribers] (Business for Social Responsibility)

Sexual orientation: Novo Nordisk equal opportunities toolbox in Novo Nordisk equal opportunities toolbox (Novo Nordisk)

Other materials:

2003:

Blair gives religious employers the right to sack gay workers [UK] - Equal rights campaigners were furious when they discovered that regulations intended to combat discrimination in the workplace contain wide-ranging exemptions for any employer "with an ethos based on religion or belief". (Paul Waugh, Independent [UK], 11 May 2003)

Ford and Fannie Mae Top List of 50 Best Companies for Diversity [USA] -...The ranking took into consideration many different aspects of diversity, including race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, among others...The top ten companies on the list included Ford, Fannie Mae, American Express, Verizon, IBM, SAFECO, Deloitte & Touche, Eastman Kodak, Bank of America, Xerox (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 24 Apr. 2003)

Human rights ordinance nearly ready [Covington, USA] - Covington's proposed human rights ordinance is nearly in its final form and the lawyer the city hired to draft it predicts the local business community -- which had concerns about it -- will support it...The city since January has been considering expanding its human rights ordinance to ban discrimination based on age, sexual orientation, gender, marital status and parental status. The ordinance would apply to the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. (Mike Rutledge, Kentucky Post, 16 Apr. 2003)

Banning Gender Identity Discrimination [New Mexico, USA] - The state Legislature late Friday approved a bill to prohibit discrimination in the workplace against people based on sexual orientation or gender identification...The measure now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson, who has said he would sign such a measure. (Santa Fe New Mexican, 22 Mar. 2003)

Cape-sponsored gender non-discrimination bill passes key Assembly committee [USA] - Bill Authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno Passes with Support of Community and Business Leaders - The California State Assembly's Labor & Employment Committee today passed a historic civil rights measure, sponsored by the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE), to prohibit housing and workplace discrimination based on gender characteristics [including transgender status] (California Alliance for Pride and Equality, 19 Mar. 2003)

Employers 'wide open' to discrimination claims [UK] - UK employers are leaving themselves wide open to discrimination claims according to the Work Foundation. The survey of business recruitment practices found that firms were failing to monitor racial and sexual diversity amongst jobseekers...It is illegal for employers to discriminate against applicants on the basis of sex, disability or race.  It will soon become illegal to discriminate on grounds of age, sexual orientation and religion. (BBC News, 10 Mar. 2003)

EOC says Britain needs modern equality law - Britain needs modern and consistent equality law that reflects how society has changed over the last 30 years, Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said today..."Today women play a far more important role in the workplace and in public life and men take on more family and caring responsibilities. Gay and lesbian people are increasingly visible in all walks of life, and as life expectancy increases older people can expect to lead active lives for longer.  However, inequality and prejudice haven't gone away. Single parents, pensioners and the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are still among the poorest groups, and women in these groups are even poorer than men." (Equal Opportunities Commission [UK], 28 Feb. 2003)

ExxonMobil Receives 23 Shareowner Resolutions on Issues Ranging from Climate Change to Corporate Governance -...The social resolutions filed with ExxonMobil ask the company to implement a sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy, review and implement human rights standards, affirm political nonpartisanship, and report on the impact of AIDS on operations. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 26 Feb. 2003)

HRC co-files resolution urging ExxonMobil to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination - The Human Rights Campaign has joined the New York City Employees' Retirement System in filing a shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to add sexual orientation to its written non-discrimination policy. (Wayne Besen, Human Right Campaign, 14 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Cracker Barrel Adds Sexual Orientation to Non-Discrimination Policy [USA] (Wayne Besen, Gay Financial Network, 4 Dec. 2002)

Kodak Fires Worker For Anti-Gay Message [USA] - Eastman Kodak Co., known for its support of a diverse workforce, is under fire for firing an employee for disagreeing with the company's position on supporting gay and lesbian workers...Recent lawsuits against AT&T and Verizon Communications involved employees who felt they were being unfairly reprimanded for not supporting the companies' respective diversity policies. (C Lisotta, Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network, 31 Oct. 2002)

• Kodak Manager's Firing Ignites Christian Right [USA] - Eastman Kodak Co. is fielding both praise and protest for its decision to fire an employee who sent an email to about 1,000 Kodak employees in which he described National Coming Out Day as "disgusting and offensive." (Gfn.com News [Gay Financial Network], 30 Oct. 2002)

Call to end 'discriminatory' pensions [UK] - Hundreds of thousands of people are missing out on adequate pensions due to legal anomalies, a leading union has warned...Under existing rules, women, younger people and people in same-sex relationships miss out, the Transport & General Workers' Union (T&G) said. (BBC News, 11 Oct. 2002)

Court OKs gay man's suit against MGM Grand [USA] - A divided federal appeals court has ruled that an openly gay man is entitled to bring a sexual harassment lawsuit under the U.S. Civil Rights Act, even though all his accused tormentors were fellow male employees. (Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun, 25 Sep. 2002)

Current List of Annual Company Meeting Statements Made by Socially Responsible Shareholders [includes Alltel - Sexual Orientation Discrimination; Eastman Chemical Company - Health Risks of Cigarette Filters; Gannett - American Indians / Diversity Reporting; Hasbro - Sweatshops (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, 10 Sep. 2002)

Gay Labor Goes Global in Australia - Some 300 gay labor activists from 25 countries are expected to attend the Workers Out! World Conference of Lesbian and Gay Trade Unionists in Sydney, Australia...We'll be discussing ways to integrate defense of lgbt rights into the human rights programs of national and international trade union structures — the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions adopted a resolution opposing discrimination on grounds of sexuality in 2000...Another priority is implementing workplace policies on HIV and other chronic diseases, along with enabling access to anti-retroviral medicines. In particular, we're pressuring leading transnational employers to buy generic anti-HIV drugs for their employees in the Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Asia. (The Gully, 13 Aug. 2002)

13 Companies Earn Perfect Score on First HRC Corporate Equality Index [USA]: Demonstrate Leadership with Regard to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Employees - A total of 13 major U.S. corporations earned 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's first Corporate Equality Index, released today. The index rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors...The 13 companies that scored 100 percent are: Aetna Inc.; AMR Corp./American Airlines; Apple Computer Inc.; Avaya Inc.; Eastman Kodak Co.; Intel Corp.; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; Lucent Technologies Inc.; NCR Corp.; Nike Inc.; Replacements Ltd.; Worldspan L.P.; and Xerox Corp...At the other end of the scale, three companies scored zero: CBRL Group Inc./Cracker Barrel; Emerson Electric Co.; and Lockheed Martin Corp. (Human Rights Campaign, 13 Aug. 2002)

• New Index Rates U.S. Corporations' Treatment of Homosexuals - A survey by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) of 319 U.S. companies... found that 92 percent include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies, one of seven criteria the HRC used to create its 2002 Corporate Equality Index...Companies that scored near the bottom include Emerson Electric, Exxon Mobil, Lockheed Martin, and Perot Systems. (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in DiversityInc, 13 Aug. 2002)

Transvestite Sues Beauty School [USA] - A transvestite sued a Los Angeles beauty school Wednesday, claiming his application was rejected when school officials realized he was not a woman. The lawsuit, brought by a plaintiff known only as "Sandy," is the first of its kind under a 1979 city ordinance that prohibits businesses from discrimination based on sexual orientation, "Sandy's" attorney, Gloria Allred, told Reuters. (Reuters, 8 Aug. 2002)

New law would protect rights of transgenders [USA] - Transgenders and cross-dressers are pushing for civil rights protections in areas ranging from the workplace to rest rooms in a proposed new law being considered by city officials. (Karen E. Crummy, Boston Herald, 7 Aug. 2002)

Businesses support gay measure [USA] - A majority of small-business owners support a proposed Orlando ordinance that would include gays on a list of groups protected by anti-discrimination laws, according to a survey released Monday by the city. (Greg Groeller, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2002)

Marais 'pinklisted' as gays name and shame - South African individuals, institutions and companies who are alleged to be homophobic will be targeted by gay activists from Tuesday when a website goes on line aimed at, among other things, naming and shaming...A life insurance company which allegedly refused to pay out benefits to a lesbian's partner...are among those who have been "pinklisted". (Independent [South Africa], 3 Aug. 2002)

£22,000 for transsexual sacked from job [UK] - A post-operative transsexual has received £22,000 in a settlement after she claimed she was discriminated against in her job as a production-line worker [at Structural Polymer Systems]. (Ananova, 25 June 2002)

Living in the shadows - Employment, next to acceptance, is the biggest hurdle faced by transsexuals the world over, and those in Malaysia are no exception. (Jeswant Kaur, New Straits Times, 23 June 2002)

NOW Blasts Wal-Mart Workplace Abuses, Names the Company a Merchant of Shame [USA] - "Today the National Organization for Women is naming Wal-Mart — the nation's largest company with close to one million employees — a Merchant of Shame," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "Wal-Mart faces numerous allegations of sex discrimination in pay, promotion and compensation; of wage abuses, violation of child labor laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act; exclusion of contraceptive coverage in employee insurance plans and discrimination on the basic of sexual orientation. (National Organization for Women [USA], 22 June 2002)

The Strategic Logic of Diversity -...If we want to recruit and retain the best women we won't succeed if we tolerate what one commentator has described as "a golf club culture" which can implicitly, if not explicitly, exclude women and sometimes minorities as well. If we want to be an employer of the most able people who happen to be gay or lesbian, we won't succeed unless we offer equal benefits for partners in same sex relationships. (Lord Browne, Group Chief Executive of  BP, keynote speech at the Women in Leadership conference [Berlin], 19 June 2002)

• {···español} La lógica estratégica de la diversidad -...Si queremos contratar y retener a las mejores mujeres, no tendremos éxito si toleramos lo que un comentarista ha descrito como “ la cultura del club de golf”, lo que implícitamente, si no explícitamente, excluiría a las mujeres y del mismo modo, a veces, a minorías. Si deseamos emplear a las personas más capaces y éstas son gays o lesbianas, no tendremos éxito a menos que ofrezcamos las mismas ventajas para las parejas de cualquier orientación sexual. (Lord Browne, Group Chief Executive, BP, en la conferencia “Las mujeres al poder”, Berlín, 19 junio 2002)

• {···français} La logique stratégique de la diversité -...Si nous voulons recruter et retenir les meilleures femmes, nous ne réussirons pas si nous tolérons ce qu’un commentateur a décrit comme une « culture de club de golf » qui peut implicitement, voire explicitement, exclure les femmes et parfois les minorités également. Si nous voulons employer les personnes les plus talentueuses, qui seront peut-être homosexuelles, nous ne réussirons pas si nous n’offrons pas des avantages égaux aux couples homosexuels. (Lord Browne, Group Chief Executive, BP, À la conférence «Les Femmes Leaders», Berlin, 19 juin 2002)

Microsoft Israel fired man for being gay, court told - Since January, Tel Aviv District Labor Court has been sitting in camera on a lawsuit filed by a man who claims he was fired from Microsoft Israel because he is homosexual. The company adamantly rejects the man's contention, saying that his dismissal had nothing to do with his sexual orientation but was due to his poor professional performance. It is the first lawsuit filed in Israel on such grounds. (Ran Reznick, Ha'aretz [Israel], 13 June 2002)

Deaf Exxon -...A proposal to be put to a shareholder vote, requiring the group to develop a plan for renewable energy, has won the support of Institutional Shareholder Services, an important American proxy services firm which advises big investors how they should vote. So, too, has another proposal, requiring Exxon to prohibit discrimination against gay workers. (Guardian [UK], 30 May 2002) [note: this is a sub-article which appears under the article entitled: "Problems for over-energetic Cheney"...scroll down the page]

BSR Unveils Labor Law Database: Web-based Tool to Improve Labor Compliance and Safeguard Human Rights in the Supply Chain - Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) today unveiled Labor Law, a unique Internet database of labor law reports and supply chain compliance resources. Compiled from hundreds of primary sources, Labor Law will provide users with independently verified, in-depth reports on more than 60 countries' labor requirements relevant to corporate codes of conduct - from child labor and discrimination to working hours and wages. (Business for Social Responsibility, 21 May 2002)

• Labor Law - Labor Law is a unique Internet database of detailed labor law reports and supply chain compliance resources [a paid service for subscribers] (Business for Social Responsibility)

Swarthmore Presses Ahead with Lockheed Challenge Following Shareholder Vote [USA] - Buoyed by developments at Lockheed Martin’s recent shareholders meeting, Swarthmore College will continue to press the company to broaden its anti-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation. (Swarthmore College, 7 May 2002)

• College lobbies Lockheed on bias [USA] - Swarthmore College is using its stockholder status to press Lockheed Martin Corp. to adopt a nondiscrimination policy based on sexual orientation. (AP, in Washington Times, 2 Apr. 2002)

ALLTEL Shareholders Vote on Proposal Encouraging Company to Adopt More Inclusive Equal Employment Opportunity Policy - Investors with 21 million shares of ALLTEL Corporation stock, worth more than one billion dollars, voted to support a shareholder resolution at the company’s annual meeting yesterday requesting that ALLTEL amend its non-discrimination policy to explicitly bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Calvert Group, 26 Apr. 2002)