• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

WyoFile

Indepth News about Wyoming People, Places & Policy. Wyoming news.

  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Institutional Supporters
  • COVID-19
  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Institutional Supporters
  • COVID-19

Al Simpson joins biz leaders in workplace anti-discrimination push

January 14, 2015 by Dustin Bleizeffer Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and Susan Thomas, educator, foundation leader and wife of the late U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, have joined several Wyoming business leaders in a push to advance workplace anti-discrimination measures in Wyoming.

The new advocacy organization, Compete Wyoming, notes that in Wyoming it is not illegal for some employers to discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Not only is this discrimination wrong, it places Wyoming businesses — which compete with other states for talent — at a serious disadvantage, the group says.

Compete Wyoming will push for legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity to Wyoming’s anti-discrimination laws.

“It’s sure not the Wyoming way of life I have known in 83 years of living here – to be filled with hate and want to hurt and bully our fellow workers and citizens. Enough. Stop it now!!” Simpson stated in a press release.

Compete Wyoming board member Jan Larimer is also former co-chairman of the Republican National Committee and longtime Wyoming GOP leader. Larimer said in a prepared statement, “If Wyoming wants to compete on the global stage we need to recruit the best and the brightest to live and work here. We don’t do that by asking about age, gender, race, or sexual orientation. We do it by asking if they can get the job done. That’s the Wyoming way.”

The organization announced its formation and mission last week, along with a statewide survey that suggests no matter how Wyomingites feel about same-sex marriage there is a strong majority that supports adding protections against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Compete Wyoming also said there are several examples of egregious discrimination cases in Wyoming. Alleged incidents brought to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services include a worker tied naked to the front of a work field vehicle while co-workers played “chicken” with his life; human waste placed into lunch boxes and lockers; and workers being fired just for being gay, despite meritorious job performance, according to Compete Wyoming.

WyoFile confirmed the claims with Workforce Services. Cherie Doak, deputy administrator of Labor Standards Division, said the department receives approximately 30 to 40 inquiries per year regarding workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification.

Doak said under current Wyoming law it’s extremely difficult to pursue action on such claims. Most people who report discrimination based on sexual orientation and sexual identity get frustrated with the limited scope in which the state can pursue a case, and they eventually give up trying.

“It happens a lot with sexual orientation cases,” Doak said. “Unfortunately, it’s an ugly process. … It makes people’s lives miserable.”

Compete Wyoming board member Dave Teubner, CEO of Warehouse Twenty-One, said in a prepared statement, “While our business operates in Wyoming, we compete nationally for customers and clients. We need the best programmers and design talent we can find.

“By not having a policy that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the state is only adding to our burden of recruiting the best and potentially forcing businesses to move to other states where the resource pool is much larger, and their state policy far more up-to-date.”

Compete Wyoming announced its honorary board members this week. They are:

Alan K. Simpson, retired U.S. Senator
Jan Larimer, Former National RNC Co-Chair and former Wyoming GOP National Committeewoman
Susan Thomas, educator, foundation leader and wife of the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas
Shawn Mills, CEO & Founder, Green House Data
Dave Teubner, CEO of Warehouse Twenty-one
John Pope, CEO of WellDog
Nancy Binks Lyman, Account Manager, CenturyLink
Lynn Birleffi, former head of the Wyoming Retail Association and Wyoming Restaurant and Lodging Association
Bryan Pedersen, Head of Pedersen Investment Group and former Wyoming House Representative
Dave O’Malley, Albany Co. Sheriff, incoming President of the Wyoming Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Association

 


Popular Articles:


Lawmakers weighing study of public lands transfer in 2021


Elk feedground bill won’t hamper Game and Fish power


Lawmakers failed, again, to address Wyo’s most pressing needs


Filed Under: Cheyennigans, Policy

Dustin Bleizeffer

About Dustin Bleizeffer

Dustin Bleizeffer has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for 20 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy industry in Wyoming. Most recently he was Communications Director at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, and WyoFile editor-in-chief. He lives in Casper. You can reach him at (307) 267-3327, [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @DBleizeffer.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules:
- Identify yourself with full name and city. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same.
- No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Tweets by @WyoFile

Search WyoFile

Become an Underwriter
Sign Up for Free Weekly Newsletters

Recent Comments

  • Al Kolman on Lawmakers failed, again, to address Wyo’s most pressing needs
  • Maria Hernandez on In the 2021 Legislature, major fights have mostly fizzled out
  • Kari Eakins on Wyo emerges from session with no long-term budget, ed solutions
  • Gene Roban on Our public school curriculum needs forward, not retro, path
  • D A Alexander on Lawmakers failed, again, to address Wyo’s most pressing needs

Footer

Recent Posts By Date

April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar    

From The Archives

  • About Us
  • Careers
  • How to Republish
  • Freelancing
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 by WyoFile