PayPal nixes North Carolina expansion over discrimination law
PayPal confirmed that it will abandon plans to open a global operations center in North Carolina because of the state’s recently passed, controversial anti-LGBT law.
The original plan was to open the center in Charlotte and employ over 400 people, but the company announced in a statement that it has decided to roll back the plans.
“This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal. “These principles of fairness, inclusion and equality are at the heart of everything we seek to achieve and stand for as a company. And they compel us to take action to oppose discrimination."
The law bars transgender people from bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on birth certificate. Republicans in the state unanimously supported the bill while Democrats walked out in protest.
Lawmakers in the state have also passed a law that prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination protections.
The law has businesses in the state digging in — and major state employer, Dow Chemical, said the bill is an “attempt to undermine equality.”
Other technology and brand leadership has weighed in as well with several high profile CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Tim Cook (Apple), Jack Dorsey (Square and Twitter), David Karp (Tumblr), Marissa Mayer (Yahoo), Sundar Pichai (Google), Tim Westergren (Pandora), Paula Schneider (American Apparel) and Virginia Rometty (IBM), sending a letter to Republican North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, indicating their opposition the law and warning that it could make it tougher for businesses to recruit the nation's "best and brightest workers."