Corporations To SCOTUS: Uneven Marriage Laws Are Burdening Our Business

Thirty major corporations have filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear AFER's challenge of Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. On the list: Amazon, CBS, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Intel, General Electric, Levi Strauss, Nike, Oracle, Pfizer, Staples, Target, and Viacom. In general, the brief argues that the nation's uneven patchwork of marriage laws places an undue burden on corporations. An excerpt:

Amici include technology, materials, financial services, pharmaceutical, apparel, and entertainment companies; hoteliers and restaurateurs, service providers, consultants, and designers. Amici all share a desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. We are located or operate in states across the country, some of which recognize marriages of those of our employees whose spouses are of the same sex, and others that prohibit marriages between same-sex couples and refuse to recognize existing same-sex marriages. This dual and continuously shifting regime uniquely burdens amici. This legal uncertainty exposes us, as employers, to unnecessary cost, risk, and administrative complexity. In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden imposed by inconsistent state laws of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale.

Hit the link for the full list of corporations.

Coalition Of Human Rights Groups: Sochi's Top Corporate Sponsors Must Speak Out

A coalition of 40 human rights groups have issued a joint letter to the top ten corporate sponsors of the Sochi Olympics which demands that they denounce Russia's abuses against LGBT people. Via press release:

Corporate sponsors of the Sochi Winter Olympics should act now to urge Russia to halt the rising tide of discrimination, harassment and threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, 40 of the world’s leading human rights and LGBT groups said today, in an unusual joint open letter. The letter to all of the leading sponsors of the Sochi Olympics asks them to use their leverage as underwriters of the 2014 Winter Games in a variety of concrete ways.

The groups urged sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay “propaganda” law, which violates the Olympic Charter’s principle of non-discrimination, and to ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undertake systemic reforms to monitor and prevent human rights abuses in future host countries. “Time is running out for the sponsors to take a clear stand in defense of Olympic values,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “These companies are sponsoring an Oympics marred by ugly discrimination and serious rights abuses. They should speak out forcefully for equality and human rights.”

The joint letter is addressed to the 10 TOP Sponsors of the Sochi Games (members of “The Olympic Partner” (TOP) Program)--Atos, Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, General Electric, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Visa. The Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch and several other groups have engaged with the sponsors for nearly a year to urge them to act on abuses.

Among the groups in the coalition: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights Campaign, Athlete Ally, GLAAD, Family Equality Council, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Including in the requests for action, the letter asks that Sochi's top corporate sponsors address LGBT rights in their Olympic advertising.

Comcast To Buy NBC Universal

This is major, especially for New York City. General Electric has agreed to sell a controlling interest in NBC Universal to Comcast Cable.

The agreement will create a joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent and G.E. owning 49 percent. Comcast will contribute to the joint venture its stable of cable channels, which includes Versus, the Golf Channel and E Entertainment, worth about $7.25 billion, and will pay G.E. about $6.5 billion in cash, for a total of $13.75 billion. For now, the network will remain NBC Universal, but ultimately Comcast could decide to change the name. Almost immediately, the transaction reshapes the nation’s entertainment industry, giving a cable provider a huge portfolio of new content, even as it raises the sector’s anxieties about the future.

The deal is valued at $30B and may take 18 months before getting the approval of the FCC. NBC's world headquarters is expected to remain in NYC for now. In 2004 Comcast failed in its bid to purchase ABC parent company Walt Disney Co.