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This excerpt taken from the IDA DEF 14A filed Apr 7, 2008. WHEREAS: IDACORP
does not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or
gender identity/expression in its written employment policy;
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation
(HRCF) defines sexual orientation as: An enduring emotional, romantic, sexual
and relational attraction to another person; may be a same-sex orientation,
opposite-sex orientation or bisexual orientation. Gender identity is
described as: The gender role that a person claims for his or her self – which
may or may not align with his or her physical gender. Gender expression is
defined as: How a person behaves, appears or presents him- or herself with
regard to societal expectations of gender.
National polls consistently find more
than three-quarters of Americans support equal rights in the workplace for gay
men, lesbians and bisexuals. In a Gallup poll conducted in May 2007,
approximately 89 percent of respondents favored equal opportunity in employment
for gays and lesbians;
According to a June, 2007, survey
conducted by Harris Interactive, twenty-eight percent of gay and lesbian
employees believe they have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in
the workplace, and forty percent of employees are uncomfortable being open about
their sexual orientation with their colleagues;
A 2005
survey by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs, showed that 88 percent of gay and
lesbian adults considered it extremely or very important that a company have a
written non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation;
Nineteen states, and the District of
Columbia, have laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation; By January 2008, 13 states will have laws in place prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of gender identity/expression.
IDACORP is increasingly an outlier
given its lack of an inclusive policy. As tracked by HRCF’s Corporate
Equality Index, many companies in the Fortune 500 Index have
implemented best practices and policies to support discrimination free
workplaces, including:
17
87% have
Equal Employment Opportunity policies that include sexual
orientation,
30% have
Equal Employment Opportunity policies that include gender identity and/or
expression,
53%
provide domestic partner health insurance,
49% have
diversity training programs,
28% have
Employee Resource or Affinity groups for employees.
Utilities and energy companies, such as
Consolidated Edison, Dominion Resources, Entergy, Exelon, Keyspan, National
Grid, Nicor, PG&E, PNM Resources, Severn Trent Services, and Southern
California Edison explicitly prohibit gender identity/expression and sexual
orientation discrimination in their written policies;
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