Out At Work is an organization dedicated to providing the resources
and tools for gay, lesbian and bisexual employees and member groups
to help them:
- Organize, educate others, and develop as effective, productive
people in their jobs and their overall lives,
- Achieve an open, supportive workplace environment where
non-discrimination policies are actively enforced and supported,
as well as finding ways to activate domestic partnership
benefits.
Out at Work also fosters an awareness in the general and executive
business community of the existence, contributions, needs and
challenges facing gay, lesbian and bisexual employees.
Out at Work is very proud to publish this, its first, newsletter.
Inside you will find a short history of recent meetings, columns
about local companies, and listings of upcoming events. We are
excited to provide this information for you and welcome your comments
and suggestions. Future editions of Out at Work News will have
book reviews, photos, meeting highlights and more. If you have
suggestions, please call the Out at Work Hotline at 312-794-5218.
Signed, your steering team:
Daniel Barcus, Jason Cohen, Lea Dottke, John Kinyon, David Parker,
Therese Quinn, Diane Rigney, Roger Sullivan, and Greg Ward.
Around the Organizations
Here are recent accomplishments at some of the companies where Out
at Work participants have been striving to create change. People
are generally finding a great deal to symbolic, and some substantive,
support from the management of their companies. Where there are
negative stories (and there are some), they are generally not able
to be included in print for reasons of confidentiality.
Abbott Laboratories
The group has had good success using the Out at Work Hotline
phone number in the ads they have placed in various publications.
After one recent ad, the group took four calls from Abbott employees
who hadn't previously known about the group.
AT&T
Thanks in large part to lobbying from LEAGUE (Lesbian, Gays and
Bisexual United Employees at AT&T), the company is proactively
marketing the gay, lesbian and bisexual community in a big way.
70,000 people received direct mailings in June highlighting the
company's support of events like the Gay Games and of LEAGUE itself.
Same sex couples were pictured, with quotes such as "When Bob is
away on business, we like to stay in touch. I love knowing what
he's thinking."
For the first time this year, LEAGUE marched in Pride Parades
around the country as an official AT&T entry. The group recently
held its third annual Professional Development Conference. As in
the past, the company paid for most of the participants to attend.
Look for the groups strong participation at the Northalsted Market
Days, July 30-31.
Ameritech
Lesbians and Gays at Ameritech recently sent a letter announcing
its existence to the Human Resources departments of all 33 divisions
of the company. The response was positive, with the company asking
the group to sit down formally and talk. The group meets monthly
at Ann Sathers.
Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting
ANGLES (Andersen Gay and Lesbian Employees) recently met with
the worldwide Director of Human Resources and the Director of Human
Resources responsible for half of Chicago-based employees. Both
discussions were good initial meetings, including discussions of
substantive issues, and follow-ups are planned. The group has
monthly social lunches, monthly steering committee meetings and
quarterly general business meetings.
Baxter Healthcare
BAGLE (Baxter Association of Gay and Lesbian Employees) has been
in existence for 18 months. A monthly newsletter is circulated to
employees in Chicago and at other facilities in the US. The steering
committee meets monthly. Recently, a dialog was opened with
management to discuss human rights and benefit policy issues.
Follow-up meetings with members of the executive management team
are planned for the near future.
CTA
Lesbian and Gays at the CTA was a huge hit at the Pride Parade.
the crowds loved the miniature bus that was included, and many
people seemed genuinely happy that a public agency like CTA would
be supporting its lesbian and gay employees and our community.
The group, and its founder Spenser Cook, got great publicity in a
front page article in Windy City Times. Thanks to the group, the
CTA now has an employee newsletter and phone line that all employee
groups can use to publicize their events. The group meets monthly
at Ann Sathers.
Commonwealth Edison
The group once again marched in the Pride Parade as an official
entry of ComEd, using the official company float. Thanks in part
to the group's lobbying, the company is expected to amend its EEO
policy to include sexual orientation to be implemented by the end
of June. A couple of books about gay issues were purchased for
the company library and put on the recommended reading list for
managers. The group's leader, Greg Ward, was asked to serve on a
high-level HR task force. The company is now forming a Diversity
Council. There are also plans for a new diversity management
training program, including focus groups. ComEd also recently
published an internal document on diversity issues that included
a section called The Lavender Ceiling.
FAA / U.S. Department of Transportation / Midwest GLOBE
GLOBE got the FAA to add sexual orientation to its EEO policy and
has been meeting with senior management in the agency. Support
has been garnered from the African-American and women's employee
groups, and also from the union. There has been some backlash from
religious right employees, but the agency has demanded that employees
treat each other with respect in the workplace.
Financial Institutions (First Chicago, Northern Trust, Continental
Bank, Prudential)
Based on gay employees talking to the diversity committee, First
Chicago is hiring Overlooked Opinions (a gay-owned market research
firm) to hold focus groups of gay and lesbian employees, to help
the company determine the needs of these employees. Northern
Trust's diversity committee asked a gay and a lesbian employee to
submit information about gay and lesbian employee needs. They also
hired a consultant on the issue. A group is in the planning stages
at Continental Bank. Focus groups are being formed at Prudential
to look at gay/lesbian issues after the announcement of group
forming in Minneapolis inspired negative mail.
Legal Assistance Foundation
Employees of the Legal Assistance Foundation were successful this
May in obtaining domestic partnership benefits in their new union
contract, making them one of the first Chicago-based organizations
to win the benefit.
Lesbian and Gay Cultural Workers
The group has gotten approval to facilitate a panel discussion
about gay/lesbian programming in museums, and marketing to lesbian/gay
audiences at the Midwest Museum Conference this November. The
group usually meets monthly at Randolf Street Gallery, but will be
taking a summer vacation. Meetings resume in the fall. Recent
member-led efforts include conducting a survey of local cultural
institutions to assess which, if any, have anti-discrimination
policies that include sexual orientation and/or domestic partnership
benefits. None have, so far!
Motorola
A group of Motorolans concerned with gay, lesbian, and bisexual
(GLB) workforce diversity issues established an informal electronic
network. Realizing that some Motorolans may believe that their
privacy could be violated by participating in such an electronic
network, or that some are unable to access a computer, the GWD
Newsletter was created. GWD Newsletter is a synopsis of these
discussions.
Quaker Oats
The gay and lesbian employee group A Safe Place was introduced to
all Quaker employees through an article about employee affinity
groups in the company newsletter. The company stated its support
for these groups and told how to contact the group. Thanks to A
Safe Place's efforts, sexual orientation is about to be added to
the company's EEO statement.
Recent Press Mentions
Windy City Times and Outlines continue to help us publicize our
efforts by running our calendar listings.
Gay Chicago Magazine recently ran two large articles which mentioned
us, "Gay at the Office", the cover story in the April 28 issue, and
"Out on a Job Interview?", written by our own John Kinyon, based on
the presentation Jim Phetterplace gave at our April Meeting.
A reporter from Time Magazine came to our May meeting as part of
her research for an article which is scheduled to appear in late
June.
Summary of Recent Meetings
Our recent meetings were Highlighted by excellent speakers. We
hope to continue this in the future.
February 94
David Parker, Benefits Manager for Britannica Companies, spoke
about "Maximizing Your Healthcare and Other Benefits at Work".
David stressed the importance of not missing enrollment deadlines,
when enrollment can not be denied due to health. Taking the highest
levels of benefits offered at that time is also important.
March 94
We heard first hand accounts of "Dealing with AIDS at Work", with
a human resources manager, health educator and person with AIDS,
all from ComEd, addressing the topic. Their experiences have
varied with location and time, but the atmosphere has generally
improved as AIDS hysteria has diminished.
April 94
James Phetterplace, Jr., who works in the recruiting department
of Amoco Corporation, spoke on ways to "Enter the Workplace as a
Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Employee". Jim offered ideas on how to gauge
if a company is gay friendly: what to look for before the interview,
which questions to ask the recruiter, and what's not being said -
reading between the lines.
May 94
The May meeting, "Fired for Being Gay -- NOT!", focused on legal
issues relating to workplace discrimination, including the city,
county and (hopefully) statewide anti- discrimination ordinances.
Larry McKeon, Mayor Daley's liaison to the gay and lesbian community,
Joanne Trapani of the Cook County Commission on Human Rights, and
Rick Garcia of the Illinois Federation for Human Rights addressed
the topic.
What To Do If You Experience Discrimination At Work
The City of Chicago and Cook County prohibit discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation. The county ordinance is overruled by
any other specific ordinance which a community may have passed, so
in Chicago, the city ordinance prevails.
If you believe you are experiencing or have experienced discrimination
at work, you should contact the Chicago Commission on Human Relations
(312-744-4111) or the Cook County Commission on Human Rights
(312-443-3456) within 180 days of the incident. If you file a
complaint, adequate documentation will prove useful. You should
document all relevant events and keep the log in some secure place
not in the office. That way, if you are suddenly terminated you
will not lose your documentation.
Document things like prior appraisals, notable differences between
how you are treated or appraised versus others, i.e. "I was written
up for being 5 minutes late, but I observed three other staff arrive
late that month who were not written up." If you file a complaint,
the appropriate agency will review the case and contact the offending
company to discuss the matter. Both commissions have had excellent
success in resolving these issues. Normally, companies are not
aware that discrimination is illegal, or in some cases it is not
sanctioned by the company.
Reinstatement with back-pay and behavioral changes are two of the
most common resolutions when complaints are filed.
Out at Work News is published by Out at Work (or Not), an umbrella organization of Chicago-area lesbigay employee groups. Please contact us at OAWon@aol.com for permission to reprint information in Out at Work News.