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Anti-Gay Indiana Law Prompts Business to Leave the State

Salesforce founder Marc Benioff has cancelled all programs that requires employees to travel to Indiana.

Salesforce (CRM) founder Marc Benioff, who Wednesday tweeted that his company would “dramatically reduce” its investment in Indiana if a controversial law was enacted discriminating against the LGBT community, followed up with a tweet Thursday canceling any programs that required his staff or customers to travel to the midwestern state after the bill was passed. The tweet read: “Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination.” Salesforce owns ExactTarget, which has 2,000 employees in Indianapolis.

The bill’s supporters contended that it protected religious freedom, but opponents, who included Benioff and a number of other tech CEOs (who actively tried to dissuade Indiana Gov. Mike Pence), countered in a letter that “we not only disagree with this legislation on a personal level, but the (law) will adversely impact our ability to recruit and retain the best and the brightest talent in the technology sector. Technology professionals are by their nature very progressive, and backward-looking legislation such as this will make the state of Indiana a less appealing place to live and work.”

Among those who signed the letter were John McDonald, CEO of CloudOne; and Bill Johnson, CEO of Salesvue. Benioff has a history of personal and corporate philanthropy and activism, and is a major donor to San Francisco’s UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.

Daniel Luzer is GOVERNING's news editor.
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