Verizon

BlueJeans
New York
Telecommunication Services

Corprate Bias Ratings

Risk Level:

Rating - Danger
High Risk

Verizon terminated its relationship with One America News Network (OANN). The company vets vendors according to LGBTQ policies, is part of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, and does not provide its employees with protections against viewpoint discrimination. Verizon covers travel costs for employee abortions and regularly funds Planned Parenthood. The company covers the cost of "medically necessary transition-related care” for its employees and their children. It pledged $17 million to BLM and related causes and is a Titanium Sponsor of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Verizon supports the Equality Act, transgender participation in female sports, and funds multiple LGBTQ organizations. The company integrates ESG into all of its business practices, requiring unconscious bias training and committing to carbon neutrality by 2035. For these reasons, Verizon receives a High 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

High-level officials in the Trump campaign report that Trump’s texting campaign was temporarily paused for a 5 day period during his 2020 presidential run (1). Verizon claims that the cessation of service was the result of a third-party decision to ensure the campaign met spam/privacy criteria for the texts, while the Trump campaign argues it was unnecessary and politically motivated. Verizon terminated its relationship with conservative OANN in 2022 (2). Verizon is a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which aims to demonetize advertisements and suppress content that “vilifies” individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity, discusses “debated social issues in a negative or partisan context,” or spreads “hate speech” (3)(4)(5). The company received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (6)(7). Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies.

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Verizon does not discriminate against religious organizations in its charitable giving (1). However, its corporate grants do allow for the company to exclude religious organizations unless the donations benefit the community at large (2).

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Verizon does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (1)(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

Verizon advocates for the Equality Act and Transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports (1)(2). Verizon spoke out against voting integrity laws in multiple conservative states (3). Verizon has opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in schools to kids in K-3rd grade (4). Verizon has implemented ESG into its business practices, including required unconscious bias training for all employees, and has a 2035 net-zero pledge (5). Verizon is a signatory of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge (6). 

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Verizon has a perfect score on the HRC’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index. This score indicates the company covers the cost of “medically necessary transition-related care” for its employees and their children (1)(2). Verizon is a “Titanium” corporate sponsor of the LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG and donates to the progressive Rainbow PUSH Coalition (3)(4). The company is a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (5)(6)(7). In total, Verizon donated over $17 million to the Black Lives Matter movement and related causes, including the National Urban League (8)(9). Verizon has a long history of giving to Planned Parenthood (10). Verizon funds employee travel to obtain an abortion (11). Verizon is a copper sponsor of Out & Equal and a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (12)(13).

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Verizon has donated to the Equality PAC (1).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
November 30, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

Voting History

Date
ESG Category
Proponent
Summary of ResolutionMgmt RecTotal Vote % in Favor
5/11/23GovernanceThomas M. SteedAmend Senior Executive Clawback PolicyAgainst36.60%
5/11/23GovernanceKenneth SteinerIndependent Chair of BoardAgainst29.00%
5/11/23GovernanceBellTel RetireesShareholder Ratification of Executive Severance PackagesAgainst11.30%
5/11/23GovernanceTrilliumCease Political ContributionsAgainst6.00%
5/11/23GovernanceNational Legal and Policy CenterReport on Government Content Takedown RequestsAgainst2.60%
5/12/22GovernanceAssoc. of BellTel RetireesShareholder Ratification of Executive Severance PackagesAgainst44.06%
5/12/22GovernanceThomas SteedAmend Senior Executive Compensation Clawback PolicyAgainst37.00%
5/12/22SocialNational Legal and Policy CenterReport on Charitable ContributionsAgainst5.68%
5/12/22SocialSteven MilloyReport on Operations in Communist ChinaAgainst4.50%
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