Microsoft Shareholder Seeks Accountability for Transgender Policies; Opposes Reid Hoffman for Board Proposal Sponsored by National Legal and Policy Center Calls for Company to Explain Why it Pays for Mutilations, Not De-Transitions
Falls Church, VA
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December 05, 2023 01:35 PM Eastern Standard Time
At the annual meeting for Microsoft Corporation on Thursday, National Legal and Policy Center will present a shareholder proposal that demands the company deliver an analysis of potential discrimination in the insurance coverage it offers employees, as it pertains to gender.
Specifically, NLPC has identified coverage for so-called “transgender” staffers who desire to switch from their birth sex. Meanwhile the tech giant – otherwise generous in its benefits coverage, which includes paying for women to travel out of their home states to get abortions, if it’s unlawful where they live – has no provisions in its health plans for those who rue their life-altering “transition” decisions.
In support of the proposal, NLPC also filed a proxy memo with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which explains in greater detail the reasons why shareholders should support its resolution for the Microsoft meeting, which is Proposal 5 on the company’s proxy statement. As the nonprofit shareholder reports, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibits discrimination “in the payment of wages or employee benefits” based on gender, and thus Microsoft’s failure to accommodate de-transitioning workers is clearly biased and inequitable treatment.
“A ‘de-transitioner’ fits into Dept. of Labor- and EEOC-protected categories of prohibited discrimination, which include ‘sex’ – expressly incorporating ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation,’” NLPC reported. “Arguably, for a ‘de-transitioner,’ the protected categories of ‘disability’ and/or ‘genetic information’ could also be cited as possible bases for discrimination.”
“While Microsoft boasts about its perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for capitulating to their radical LGBT agenda, those who are permanently scarred as a consequence of their policies have nowhere to turn for help,” said Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project.
As NLPC’s proposal states, many regretful transitioners are harmed with “various long-lasting side effects like chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, unwanted hair loss and hair gain, menstrual irregularities, urinary problems, and other complications. Rather than resolve mental health problems, such ‘gender affirming’ care instead often exacerbates them.”
NLPC also notes how sufferers are becoming increasingly litigious, which could present material risk to Microsoft shareholders, as noted in the proxy memo to the SEC:
Michelle Zacchigna had her uterus and breasts removed, and is suing the eight providers who treated her over their “recklessness.” “Distress related to my gender was treated to the exclusion of other serious mental health issues which went undiagnosed for years. Blind affirmation of my stated identity closed the door to alternative treatment options. What happened to me should never happen again.”
Those who desire to “de-transition” cannot find needed treatment, whether from providers or insurance companies… Prisha Mosley said every primary care physician, endocrinologist, obstetrician, and gynecologist she’s approached on her insurance list has turned her away or said they can’t help. “I could call and be rejected every single day.” Chloe Cole said, “I reached out to every physician, every therapist who is involved with this, and I haven’t really gotten any help at all.” Cat Cattinson said, “Because of the experimental nature of gender medicine, doctors know very little about the long-term effects of medical transition and even less about the health-care needs of those who de-transition.”
“Microsoft is not only vulnerable legally and financially because it fails to cover care for de-transitioners,” Chesser said, “but also because the company’s stated policies affirm it is possible to change one’s gender. If a judge and jury were to decide the company lied and convinced an employee into undergoing chemical or surgical castration, that is a material risk that Microsoft must disclose in its 10-K annual report to shareholders.”
In addition to its shareholder proposal, NLPC also filed another proxy memo with the SEC to oppose the re-election of LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman for Microsoft’s board of directors. The move follows a letter that Chesser sent to Microsoft’s board in October, which asked for the removal of the tech billionaire from the board, due to his hyper-partisan political activities and his connections to the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Founded in 1991, NLPC promotes ethics in public life and government accountability through research, investigation, education, and legal action.
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For more information or to schedule an interview with Paul Chesser, contact Dan Rene at 202-329-8357 or drene@nlpc.org.
Please visit http://www.nlpc.org.
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National Legal and Policy Center
Dan Rene
+1 202-329-8357
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