A complaint alleging anti-gay bias at ExxonMobil may be terminated unless the Illinois Human Rights Commission accepts review. (Photo of Exxon sign by Ildar Sagdejev, photo of Mobil sign by Terence Ong; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
A lawsuit alleging anti-gay bias at oil-and-gas giant ExxonMobil may be terminated for jurisdictional reasons, unless the Illinois Human Rights Commission agrees to take on a review of an earlier decision from another body to dismiss the case.
The complaint, filed last year by the LGBT group Freedom to Work, is now pending before the 13-member commission after the Illinois Department of Human Rights, a lower body that investigates charges of discrimination, dismissed the case on Feb. 4, 2014 for lack of jurisdiction.
According to the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the request for review was filed on May 12, the deadline for when Freedom to Work needed to submit it. The Washington Blade learned about the developments last week after checking with the Illinois Department of Human Rights about the status of the complaint.
Just last week, ExxonMobil shareholders rejected a proposed resolution at their annual meeting to include explicit protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the company’s equal employment opportunity policy. The proposed resolution, submitted by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, received support from only 19.5 percent of shareholders.
Just last week, ExxonMobil shareholders rejected a proposed resolution at their annual meeting to include explicit protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the company’s equal employment opportunity policy. The proposed resolution, submitted by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, received support from only 19.5 percent of shareholders.
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