John Deere
Risk Level:
Summary:
Deere & Co., branded as John Deere, has not used its funds or corporate reputation to support ideological causes or organizations hostile to freedom of expression. However, Deere prohibits charitable grants to religious groups altogether and will only match employee donations to religious organizations serving a secular community cause. However, the company will match donations to Planned Parenthood. Also, John Deere does not have viewpoint nondiscrimination protections for its employees. Nonetheless, the company has not publicly ended business relationships based on religious or political views. For these reasons, John Deere 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.
Deere & Co., otherwise known as John Deere, 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 Deere 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.
Deere & Co. will not provide grants to religious groups that “perform ministry, proselytization, or advocacy for any specific religious worldview” but acknowledges that “faith-motivated organizations may be considered eligible, at the sole discretion of John Deere and the John Deere Foundation, if the organizations serve a secular purpose” (1). Deere’s gift matching program does permit donations to religious colleges and universities but not to seminaries. Religious groups for “sectarian purposes” are also ineligible for gifts (2). Deere has given to religious organizations for a secular or community purpose (3). However, its foundation has given to multiple branches of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood through its gift-matching program.
Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.
Deere & Co. does not protect its employees from viewpoint discrimination (1).
Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.
Despite being a member of the Business Roundtable, there are no publicly known examples of Deere & Co. explicitly using its corporate reputation to support ideological legislation or agendas (1).
Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.
John Deere’s foundation has given to multiple branches of the ACLU and to Planned Parenthood through its gift-matching program (1).
Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.
John Deere does not use its political contributions to support single-issue ideological groups or purposes. Federal Election Commission data indicates that Deere has been consistently donating in a bipartisan manner to federal candidates (1).
All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 23, 2023
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