06 May 2021 Capital One Condemned Over Support for Mislabeled Equality Act, Which Discriminates Against Women and Americans of Faith
Washington, D.C. – The Free Enterprise Project (FEP) took Capital One to task today over the credit card giant’s support for left-wing legislation that would wreak havoc on women’s sports and strip millions of Americans of federal religious freedom protections.
Justin Danhof, Esq.
“If Capital One’s leadership has any idea what is in the Equality Act, it sure wasn’t evident today,” said Justin Danhof, Esq., who serves as General Counsel and FEP Director at the National Center for Public Policy Research, and who questioned the company’s executives at today’s annual meeting of Capital One shareholders. “For a company that claims it stands against all forms of discrimination, it sure engages in a whole lot of discrimination.”
At the meeting, Danhof submitted this question:
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Capital One supports the Equality Act. First, is that true? And second, in light of criticism from scholars and legal experts that the law would eviscerate female sports and cancel federal religious freedom protections, does the company support the entire Equality Act or just portions of it? If you could elaborate with specifics, that would be great.
Danhof’s question and the company’s response can be heard here.
After the meeting, Danhof noted that Capital One CEO Richard Fairbanks answered every shareholder inquiry except for his. Danhof responded:
If business leaders want to cancel religious freedom protections and female athletics, they should have the courage to stand up and say so.
Today’s spokesperson claimed that Capital One does not support discrimination of any kind. That’s nonsense of course. The Equality Act discriminates against women on many levels, including in sports. In states that allow boys to compete against girls in school athletics, the results have been obvious and disastrous. The Equality Act would extend such discrimination nationwide.
The company is also antagonistically discriminating against Americans of faith. The Equality Act specifically writes the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act out of the equation, putting religious Americans in great jeopardy. Even former President Barack Obama considers religious freedom a fundamental human right and an essential part of human dignity.
We’ve reached the point that the entire leadership team of Capital One – a credit card company of all things – is to the political left of perhaps the most liberal president in American history. How pathetic is that?”
Today’s meeting marks the 18th time FEP has participated in a shareholder meeting in 2021. To schedule an interview with a member of the Free Enterprise Project on this or other issues, contact Judy Kent at (703) 477-7476.
Conservative investors can learn how to oppose leftism in corporate America by downloading FEP’s new 2021 Investor Value Voter Guide. The new website Stop Corporate Tyranny also provides tools for engagement with corporate leaders.
Launched in 2007, the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project focuses on shareholder activism and the confluence of big government and big business. Over the past four years alone, FEP representatives have participated in over 100 shareholder meetings – advancing free-market ideals about health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, food policies, media bias, gun rights, workers’ rights and other important public policy issues. As the leading voice for conservative-minded investors, it annually files more than 90 percent of all right-of-center shareholder resolutions. Dozens of liberal organizations, however, annually file more than 95 percent of all policy-oriented shareholder resolutions and continue to exert undue influence over corporate America.
FEP activity has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Variety, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Drudge Report, Business Insider, National Public Radio and SiriusXM. FEP’s work is prominently featured in Stephen Soukup’s new book The Dictatorship of Woke Capital: How Political Correctness Captured Big Business (Encounter Books) and Kimberley Strassel’s 2016 book The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech (Hachette Book Group).
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors.
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