gbh@hopd3.UUCP (11/11/83)
Does anyone know anything about the history/origin of AT&T's sexual preference policy? I work for AT&T Bell Laboratories and am interested in finding out what spurred AT&T to adopt its Sexual Preference Policy, primarily because I would like to see Bell Laboratories adopt a similar policy. I am also aware that ABI ED&D has a Sexual Preference Policy. In fact, all employees were made aware of it through the form of a desk-to-desk notice which someone routed my way. I have talked to my affirmative action counselor about the matter, and he told me Bell Laboratories would probably not adopt such a policy unless there was some legal precedence to do so. Was such a legal precedence set with AT&T? I would appreciate any information about the history/origin of either of the above policies. I would also be interested in hearing from employees of non-AT&T companies who have adopted sexual preference policies or are in the process of adopting such a policy. Information as to why your company decided to adopt such a policy would be very useful to me. Greg Howard AT&T Bell Laboratories Dept. 59221 Room 3B-430 Crawfords Corner RD Holmdel, NJ 07733 (201) 949-3837 hopd3!gbh
kinn@ihu1e.UUCP (Kevin Kinnear) (11/12/83)
Forwarded for box9294 I believe AT&T Bell Laboratories has a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. I don't work for AT&T BTL, but many of my friends do and one of them checked it out (Okay, friend, you know who you are speak up!). I work for AT&T Western Electric, though, and I have a little story about Western's policy, the moral of which is, I guess, "Easier said than done." When I first started working here, I was interested in finding out about a policy to protect my job. I found out about The Policy first through Western's "Feedback" mechanism. I was relieved--I had worked a long time to get where I was and did not want to see that thrown away because of someone's prejudice. After a year or so I did some flaming on the net that revealed my sexual preference under my own name. I thought that since I was protected by The Policy it would not matter if my boss found out. When my boss found out, he came to my office, said that he had heard people were talking about an article on the net, and ask if I had indeed written it. When I admitted that I had, he said that it was okay, and that he only wanted to make sure that people were not making things up about me. He explained that he did not have a problem with my being Gay, that The Policy was clear, and that he did not want to hear another word about it. I could tell from this that he was not comfortable with it. My next boss, a new promotee, said that as a peer he had always had respect for me and my work, and that he was surprised to find out how low I was rated. To me this sounded like discrimination, but what could I do? I certainly cannot prove that I was discriminated against because of sexual preference, but it sure seemed like it. The point of the story is that while we have The Policy to protect us, it is still easy and probably common to discriminate against us. Now you know why I sign box9294
jeffy@bnl.UUCP (Jeff Mattson) (11/16/83)
Discrimination can take many forms. Especially in a company that does a lot a work in projects, and the project leader gets to pick those who'll be working with him, popularity is very important. And I've heard that in some circles it's unpopular to be gay.