Zions Bancorp asked by investor groups to do more to protect gays, lesbians

Zions Bancorp asked to do more for gays, lesbians

SALT LAKE CITY — An assortment of investor groups represented by the New York City comptroller says Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorp isn’t doing enough to protect gay, lesbian and transgender employees from discrimination.

But the banking company’s board is urging shareholders to vote against a proposal sponsored by the comptroller’s office on behalf of five city pension funds to amend the regional bank’s equal employment opportunity policy.

The amendment will put to a vote at the company’s annual stockholders meeting May 28. It would explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to a preliminary proxy statement released by Zions.

If it is approved, the board wouldn’t be bound to change the bank’s discrimination policy but would consider the idea, according to the proxy.

Zions says the company’s current policies already achieve the objectives of the proposal.

“The company really has a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination that would cause an employee to perform poorly in their job, meaning if they were troubled by discrimination and it resulted in poor performance, we would have to address that,” said James Abbott, investor relations director at Zions.

The 10-member board agreed unanimously to oppose the proposal. Abbott said the company believes a culture of discrimination could drive out highly productive employees, which might hurt its revenues.

The company also believes it’s up to cities and states to extend protection to gays and lesbians. Such protection exists in liberal-leaning Salt Lake City, but not throughout the rest of conservative Utah.

In an e-mail to The Salt Lake Tribune, comptroller’s office spokesman Greg Bell said the pension funds have a long history of submitting similar shareholder resolutions with the purpose of advancing equality while protecting the investment interest of shareholders.

“All employees should feel safe and accepted in the workplace,” Bell said. “Secondly, a work environment free of fear and harassment is good for the productivity and morale of employees, and the reputation and sustainability of companies.”

The pension funds own 918,244 shares of Zions common stock, about 0.6 percent of the 150.4 million shares in circulation.

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, www.sltrib.com