Nordstrom

Washington
Retailing

Risk Level:

Rating - Caution
Medium Risk

Summary:

Nordstrom has not terminated business relationships due to ideological beliefs, though it vets suppliers according to LGBTQ policies. The company does not have viewpoint protection for its employees. Nordstrom has supported the Equality Act and opposed various state-level bills, such as an election security bill in Georgia. Nordstrom funds travel for an abortion and Black Lives Matter. For these reasons, Nordstrom receives a "Medium Risk" rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

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.

Risk Level
Rationale

Nordstrom received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies (1).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

Nordstrom will “not fund organizations with a written policy of discrimination against any person or group based on sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis” (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

Nordstrom does not explicitly protect employees from viewpoint discrimination, though it does “not permit discrimination or harassment of any kind” (1). Nordstrom also signed onto the Don’t Ban Equality statement, which opposes abortion restrictions and the overturning of Roe v. Wade (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Nordstrom signed an open letter in support of the Equality Act (1). Nordstrom has opposed the recent Georgia election-security bill and opposes various legislation deemed “anti-LGBTQ,” such as laws protecting women’s and girls’ sports from transgender participation (2)(3). Nordstrom created a Pride Month campaign in support of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, an LGBTQ organization (4).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Nordstrom includes travel expenses for employees’ abortions in its health benefits (1). Nordstrom has donated to the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation (2). Nordstrom is a corporate sponsor of the HRC (3). Nordstrom donates over $1 million to LGBTQ organizations (4). Nordstrom also donated $100,000 to Be Proud an LGBTQ organization (5).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
N/A
Rationale

Nordstrom does not have an active PAC.

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 24, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

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