PayPal on Tuesday said that it was
withdrawing plans to expand in Charlotte over passage of a North
Carolina law that blocks cities from enacting ordinances that
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender
identity.
House Bill 2, approved last month
during a one-day special session, also bars students attending public
institutions from using the bathroom that does not conform to their
gender at birth.
PayPal's planned global operations
center in Charlotte was expected to employ 400 people.
“Becoming an employer in North
Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under
the law, is simply untenable,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a
statement. “The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates
the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal's mission
and culture.”
“[E]very person has the right to be
treated equally, and with dignity and respect.”
“We will stand firm in our commitment
to equality and inclusion and our conviction that we can make a
difference by living and acting on our values. It's the right thing
to do for our employees, our customers and our communities,”
Schulman added.
PayPal, which scored 100% on the latest
HRC Corporate Equality Index, a measure of how employers treat their
LGBT employees, did not say where it would build its new operations
center.