Exxon urged to review gay rights policy

FUND manager F&C Asset Management has for the first time filed a resolution to persuade oil giant Exxon Mobil to tighten its corporate governance and protect gay rights.

F&C said the United States oil major is one of two Fortune 100 firms that does not have a clear, uniform policy on equal employment opportunities for gay people that applies wherever the firm operates.

The filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission follows five years of unsuccessful dialogue with Exxon Mobil, said Karina Litvack, head of governance and socially responsible investment at F&C.

F&C has around 118 billion in assets under management and owns about one per cent of Exxon Mobil. It joins other shareholders that have filed resolutions on the issue with the SEC every year since 2000.

Exxon rescinded Mobil’s policy of protecting gay rights after their merger in 1999, F&C said.

Exxon Mobil said it prefers not to name specific groups or characteristics beyond those required by law, because it wants its policy to be explicitly clear that discrimination on any basis is prohibited.