General Electric
Risk Level:
Summary:
General Electric (GE) has not fired employees or clients for their views and has policies in place to protect against discrimination. It does vet vendors for their pro-LGBTQ policies. GE has advocated for the Equality Act and denounced religious freedom restoration act laws. For these reasons, GE receives a "Medium Risk" rating.
Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.
GE has not publicly terminated business relationships due to religious beliefs or political views. The company received a score of 90 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. Among other requirements, this means GE has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies (1).
Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.
GE will match donations to programs run by religious organizations that “serve a secular purpose, do not require participation in religious practices, or are open to members of the community regardless of religious belief” (1). There is no evidence of restricting donations to faith-based organizations.
Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.
GE’s written nondiscrimination policy protects its employees from both religious and viewpoint discrimination (1).
Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.
GE has signed an open letter in support of the Equality Act and also made a statement in opposition to Georgia’s voting reform bill (1)(2). Its former CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, used the company name to oppose religious freedom laws in the United States (3). Immelt left GE in 2018. There is no evidence that its current CEO, Larry Culp, Jr., opposes religious freedom laws.
Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.
GE has enabled employees to donate to Planned Parenthood directly from their paychecks (1). GE has also allegedly continued to donate to Planned Parenthood via donations to the United Way (2) (3). According to its internal annual and sustainability reports, GE does not currently donate to ideological groups, including Planned Parenthood (4)(5).
All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 23, 2023
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