Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 16:10:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Rex Wockner <rwockner@netcom.com>
Subject: QUALCOMM PROTECTS GAY WORKERS


         **************************************************
         * Copyright (c) 1995 Rex Wockner and affiliates. *
         **************************************************

                  QUALCOMM PROTECTS GAY EMPLOYEES
                          by Rex Wockner

	San Diego-based Qualcomm, a large digital-wireless-technology
company, banned discrimination based on sexual orientation March 8.

	In issuing a revised Equal Employment Opportunity policy,
President Harvey White said: "Our respect and value for
organizational diversity ... emphasizes bringing people into the
company who represent various backgrounds, beliefs, values,
perspectives, communities and cultures. It is the company's belief
that diversity makes the organization vibrant." 

	Vice-President of Human Resources Dan Sullivan added: "We
elected to add non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
because we believed doing so was consistent with our general
statement on non-discrimination. ... It was really just an expansion
of our strong convictions concerning respect for individuals of all
walks of life who join together to achieve our organizational
plans."

	Qualcomm media spokeswoman Molly Foerster said the company does
not have "a particularly well-organized" gay/lesbian employees group
"but we do know that there are gays and lesbians (working here). We
value our employees for what they can contribute to the company and
not their gender orientation, so it was not an issue that had to be
forced (by gay employees)," she said.

	However, a Qualcomm gay employee (who said he/she, like most
employees, could not speak for attribution to the media) said the
company does have a new gay group called Qualcomm People Like Us
(PLU) which met with Jane Baker, the employee-relations manager, to
encourage the policy change. PLU will be included in the next
edition of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's listing of
corporate gay groups, and has set up an in-house computer chat board
called "qc.plu."

	Qualcomm does not offer benefits to gay families.

	"That is something that at this time we haven't addressed,"
Foerster said. "That doesn't mean we're not going to do it or we are
going to do it, it just is on a back burner in terms of priorities
of other things that need to get done first. You might hear another
company say, 'No, for heaven's sakes, we won't do it.' In this
company, it's truly a fact that we just have not had an opportunity
to think that policy through." 

	Qualcomm has 2,100 employees. Among the general public, its
name is most widely known from its Eudora Internet e-mail software
program.

                            == END ==