For more than three decades, we’ve advocated for the rights of the LGBTQ community. And we will continue to fight for policies that foster equality, and against those that do not.
We are joining other businesses in signing onto a “friend of the court” brief in the case of Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, involving one woman’s claim that her employer discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation and gender nonconformity. The brief argues that such discrimination is in direct violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Our workplaces and communities must be diverse and welcoming for all people, regardless of race, sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. As the brief states, prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace is good for employees, good for employers, and good for the U.S. economy. It also points out how the failure to protect LGBTQ employees from discrimination hurts workplace productivity and talent retention.
We were the first Fortune 500 company to extend health benefits to unmarried domestic partners more than 20 years ago, and the only California business in 2007 to file an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage. We will continue to be vocal supporters of equality and nondiscrimination.
Levi Strauss & Co. lives by our values of courage, empathy, integrity, and originality and aim to influence how people around the world perceive and treat each other. Equality is not a right for some, but for all.
