ExxonMobile Extends Benefits To Gay Married Couples, But Still Faces Discrimination Lawsuit
by Will Kohler
Notorious
for denying benefits to the partners of its gay and lesbian employees,
even stripping those benefits that had offered by Mobil when it subsumed
that company in an acquisition, will now be extending the same benefits
to all married employees.
The
company says it will recognize "all legal marriages" when it determines
eligibility for health care plans for the company's 77,000 employees
and retirees in the U.S. That means if a gay employee has been married
in a state or country where gay marriage is legal, his or her spouse
will be eligible for benefits with the company starting next year.
Despite this extension of benefits to same sex married couples ExxonMobil still faces a major anti-gay discrimination lawsuit in Illinois for it's hiring practices.
Tico Almeida, the founder and president of that group, Freedom to Work, cheered Friday’s announcement – sort of.
“After
years of stubbornly refusing, we commend Exxon for joining the majority
of the Fortune 500 business leaders that already treat gay and lesbian
married couples equally under employee benefit plans. It’s a shame Exxon
waited until after the Labor Department issued official guidance
explaining that their old policy does not comply with American law, and
now it’s time to move forward.
We'd
like to begin settlement talks next week in our Illinois lawsuit
stemming from evidence that Exxon gave hiring preference to a less
qualified straight applicant over a more qualified lesbian applicant.
It's time for Exxon to stop wasting its shareholders’ money by running
up legal bills on discrimination proceedings that can be settled right
away if the corporation would simply add LGBT protections to Exxon's
official equal employment opportunity document."
SNAP!
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