Top New York official asks Best Buy about its commitment to LGBTQ groups after conservative pressure
The New York state comptroller sent a letter to Best Buy last week questioning whether the company changed its commitment to inclusivity and supporting LGBTQ groups. The letter was sent four weeks after NBC News was first to report that the consumer electronics giant offered to screen LGBTQ nonprofit donations following conservative pressure.
The New York state comptroller sent a letter to Best Buy last week questioning whether the company changed its commitment to inclusivity and supporting LGBTQ groups. The letter was sent four weeks after NBC News was first to report that the consumer electronics giant offered to screen LGBTQ nonprofit donations following conservative pressure.
The comptroller’s office manages the state’s $207 billion public pension fund, which has invested in Best Buy.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental values of companies with sound, sustainable, and profitable long-term strategies. Inclusion is essential for employee recruitment and retention, a driver of innovation, and an element of consumer brand loyalty,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote to Best Buy CEO Corie S. Barry and the company’s board chairman, J. Patrick Doyle.
The letter, which the comptroller’s office shared with NBC News, was sent to Best Buy after NBC News first reported on a public Securities and Exchange Commission filing that showed Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes following pressure from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company.
“I am concerned that Best Buy’s actions could be seen by shareholders, employees, customers, and other stakeholders as a departure from its stated commitment to policies and practices that promote inclusivity and support for the LGBTQ+ community,” DiNapoli wrote. “Actions that compromise or are misaligned with a company’s core values and business strategy may result in reputational risk and threaten long-term shareholder value.”
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