By Anna Driver
HOUSTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp, theworld's largest publicly traded oil company, has changed itsU.S. employment policies to prohibit discrimination based onsexual orientation and gender identity as now required byfederal law.
Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said Friday the company's boardapproved the policy change at a meeting on Wednesday and notedthat the oil company "always updates its policies to comply withthe laws where we work."
Investors had pressed for the change for years, filing shareholder proposals for Exxon to guarantee protections againstdiscrimination based on sexual orientation since 1999.
Exxon has previously resisted making the change, saying it already prohibited all forms of discrimination at its officesanywhere in the world.
But lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) peoplenow are federally protected classes. In July, President BarackObama signed an executive order banning federal contractors fromdiscriminating against LGBT workers.
The U.S. government relies on supply contracts for fuelsfrom many oil companies, which also have lease agreements towork on federal lands or offshore.
An organization that monitors companies' LGBT policiessuggested Exxon's policy change was a calculated one while NewYork State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who pushed for the move,welcomed it.
"To articulate its policy through the lens of legalconformance is not an affirmative changing of course and fulladoption of equality, but instead a calibrated response toretain government contracts," said Deena Fidas of The HumanRights Campaign Foundation.
DiNapoli, who oversees 12 million Exxon shares, said: "Wecommend Exxon for joining its many Fortune 500 peers andinvestors in the 21st Century where LGBT rights are synonymouswith civil rights."
In September 2013, Exxon said it would extend benefits tospouses of its U.S workers in same-sex marriages. At the time,it was a sweeping reversal by one the world's top companiesfollowing a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that ledto same-sex couple eligibility for federal benefits.
Exxon's peers including Chevron Corp and Royal DutchShell and BP Plc are known for their moreliberal policies for gay and transgender workers. (Editing by Terry Wade and Grant McCool)
