Today we join with more than 65 other prominent businesses in urging a federal district court judge to stop a law that aims to discriminate against people simply based on who they are.
In partnership with the Human Rights Campaign, Levi Strauss & Co. has signed onto an amicus brief urging federal courts to halt implementation of the harmful and discriminatory components of North Carolina’s House Bill 2. The brief supports the preliminary injunction requested by the U.S. Department of Justice in their larger suit, which contends that HB 2’s anti-transgender bathroom restrictions violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Violence Against Women Act.
The effort aligns with our company’s values – as we see it, equality and nondiscrimination in the workplace are integral to how we do business. HB2 harms our ability to work and recruit employees both inside and outside of North Carolina and denies our transgender workers and customers the basic dignity and respect that all people deserve.
This is just one step in the bigger fight for the equal rights for the LGBTQ community. While the battle is ongoing, we are engaged on many fronts, with a long history of supporting LGBTQ issues. And recent efforts to combat these laws have proven successful; just last month a U.S. federal district judge ruled that Mississippi’s House Bill 1523 was unconstitutional for allowing “arbitrary discrimination” against the LGBTQ community, unmarried people and others who do not share such views, effectively blocking the law from taking effect.
Through our products, public policy advocacy, in-store and media presence, and work in the community, we live out our values of courage, empathy, integrity, and originality and aim to influence how people around the world perceive and treat each other. By letting our company voice be heard, we act as a force for change, supporting the movement toward an equitable society for all.
Speaking Out Against LGBTQ Discrimination
July 8, 2016
