PayPal pulls 400 jobs over North Carolina anti-LGBT law
Amid a flurry of strongly worded tweets, PayPal on Tuesday became the first and only prominent tech company to commit to moving operations out of North Carolina, whose governor last week signed into law a bill that bars local governments from passing antidiscrimination protections for LGBT people.
Bay Area companies with operations in North Carolina and Mississippi have loudly condemned recently passed state laws that target lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The electronic payments firm announced Tuesday it would scrap plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, N.C., after committing to employ more than 400 people in skilled jobs in the state.
No other company has committed to taking steps to leave either North Carolina or Mississippi, which on Tuesday passed legislation that allows public employees, schools, hospitals, shelters, faith-based organizations and businesses to refuse service to LGBT people and families.
Microsoft, considered a “major supporter” of the Mississippi Economic Council, a pro-business lobbying group, declined to comment on whether the Mississippi bill would affect its business in or relationship with the state.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, took to Twitter to announce his disappointment in the Mississippi government: “These laws are bad for people, bad for business and bad for job growth,” he wrote.
Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said though actions like closing offices or facilities may have a starker impact on a state’s economic vitality, public condemnation by globally recognized brands like Google, Facebook and Apple also go a long way to influence public opinion.
Minter noted the business community in the Bay Area, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, had been instrumental and vocal supporters of same-sex marriage laws and many companies had written friend of the court briefs in support of extending the right to marry to gay couples when the issue was before the Supreme Court in 2014.