DC Water Restricts Official Travel to North Carolina
Today, with the unanimous support of the DC Water Board of Directors, CEO and General Manager George Hawkins banned official employee travel to the state of North Carolina. The restriction is in response to North Carolinas passage of the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. DC Waters management and the Board of Directors finds the law, which restricts legal protections for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) communities, inconsistent with the values of DC Water. DC Waters action mirrors the Executive Order issued by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser restricting District Government official travel until the discriminatory Act is permanently repealed or amended.
DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins stated, We are proud to follow the lead of Mayor Bowser and ban official travel to North Carolina for our 1,100 employees. DC Waters inclusive culture is in direct conflict with the law, so we will not spend ratepayer funds in the state until legal protections are extended to all of its citizens.
We are pleased to join the growing chorus of organizations that find North Carolinas law unacceptable, said DC Water Board of Directors Chairman Matthew Brown. DC Water has longstanding policies to protect the civil rights of its employees and contractors, and we have a duty to spend ratepayer funds in a way that is consistent with our values. We are hopeful officials in North Carolina recognize their law is offensive and inexcusable and choose to repeal or amend it as soon as possible.
DC Waters personnel and hiring policies are designed to protect all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The organization extended employee benefits to same sex couples in 2009.
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About DC Water
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), is an industry leading multi-jurisdictional regional utility that provides drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment for millions of visitors, residents and employees in the District of Columbia, and also collects and treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.
