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Tim Cook writes about workplace equality in the WSJ, urges Congress to approve Employment Nondiscrimination Act

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In a rare move, Apple CEO Tim Cook has written an opinion article in the Wall Street JournalTim Cook discusses his feelings about race, gender, nationality, and sexual orientation equality in the context of life inside of and outside of Apple. Cook says that Apple fosters an environment where every single person is safe and welcomed. He goes on to share details about this and Apple’s policies:

As we see it, embracing people’s individuality is a matter of basic human dignity and civil rights. It also turns out to be great for the creativity that drives our business. We’ve found that when people feel valued for who they are, they have the comfort and confidence to do the best work of their lives.

Apple’s antidiscrimination policy goes beyond the legal protections U.S. workers currently enjoy under federal law, most notably because we prohibit discrimination against Apple’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees. A bill now before the U.S. Senate would update those employment laws, at long last, to protect workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

This article from Cook comes amidst a bill in front of the U.S. Congress that would protect workers against discrimination having to do with sexual orientation and gender identity. Cook “[urges] senators to support the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, and we challenge the House of Representatives to bring it to the floor for a vote.”

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Comments

  1. Jeff Ramirez (@itsjeffo) - 10 years ago

    And yet ALL of Apple’s executives are white, including the board of directors….
    Leave the low end jobs to females and minorities.

    Keep fooling yourself, Mark Gurman…

    • And, yet, Apple’s new VP of retail is a woman. Apple hires based on capability, not “diversity”.

    • tallestskil - 10 years ago

      Whoop de fricking frick. What’s your point? Apple doesn’t fill some idiotic imaginary quota of colors and genders. They fill their roster with people who can do the job.

      Now shut up.

  2. islandgirl45 - 10 years ago

    Article is behind a paywall, unfortunately.

    • rahhbriley - 10 years ago

      Here’s how you can read it, copy the link to the article, and then go to google, and google search the address. The link that comes up in the search results will allow you to read the whole article.

  3. rogifan - 10 years ago

    Cook should stay out of politics.

  4. i was about to share this great article, but then realized it linked to a WSJ behind a paywall fail. oh well. not gonna share because people will just be irritated to see they can’t read the linked story. not very smart guys.

    • rahhbriley - 10 years ago

      Dude your tone comes off kinda off putting. You seem a bit upset, let me help. Tim published it in the WSJ. They have a paywall. That’s not 9to5’s fault. But if you were as smart as your condescending comment you’d know you can google search the link, click the result, and read the whole article.

  5. JesperA86 (@JesperA86) - 10 years ago

    “we prohibit discrimination against Apple’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees”

    Ok, but what about straight people? Why are they/we never included, even in thought, in all the anti-discrimination thingies?

    • D. Jones (@DLJinCA) - 10 years ago

      But you ARE included. Anti-discrimination laws don’t single out specific minorities for protection, they protect everyone. For example, the prohibition against discrimination based on race doesn’t apply only to a few races (African-American, Indian, Asian-American, etc.), it applies to *all* races. So, discrimination against a Caucasian simply because of his or her race is just as illegal as discrimination against an African-American. Similarly, if the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) were to pass, discrimination against a heterosexual based on their sexual orientation would be just as illegal as discrimination based on someone being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered.

    • rahhbriley - 10 years ago

      Tim says in the article “We’re committed to creating a safe and welcoming workplace for all employees, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or sexual orientation.” As heterosexuality is considered one of the sexual orientations, you’re covered don’t worry. If someone starts making fun of how straight you are at work, with good people like you, myself, and Mr. Cook to have a healthy public dialogue and encourage our civil leaders to pass such legislation, you’ll be able to do something about it finally.