-Caveat Lector- (Phone numbers to call and protest are in the article below.)
pull-quote: Winn-Dixie's national corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, is now trying to shut down www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com. In a letter sent to a transgendered activist in rural Alabama who helped design the site, Winn-Dixie demanded that the web site be removed from the Internet "immediately." http://www.shameonwinndixie.com/action_main.html Winn-Dixie Stores—one of America's largest corporations and a grocery giant in the South—fired an employee of 20 years solely because he cross-dressed off-duty. Winn-Dixie had no other reason for firing Peter Oiler; he was a loyal employee who repeatedly received raises and promotions. In sworn depositions recently taken for the ACLU's federal lawsuit against the Winn-Dixie, company executives said they fired Peter Oiler from his job as a truck driver because he might somehow damage the company's "public image" by cross-dressing away from work, causing concern that, as a result, customers were "just going to shop someplace else." This holiday season, people from all walks of life are doing exactly what Winn-Dixie's leaders were afraid of. We're sending Winn-Dixie—and all of corporate America—a message. We're telling them that discrimination— not diversity—is bad for business. And it's working. Winn-Dixie's national corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, is now trying to shut down www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com. In a letter sent to a transgendered activist in rural Alabama who helped design the site, Winn-Dixie demanded that the web site be removed from the Internet "immediately." Winn-Dixie thought nobody would notice when Peter Oiler got fired. Now the company is realizing that its image is being badly tarnished by its own bigotry. And Winn-Dixie is desperate to stop efforts to hold the company accountable for its actions. We know the top executives are listening—so it's more important than ever to take action: CONTACT THE PEOPLE WHO FIRED PETER OILER, and tell them they were wrong. (Contact information is below for Michael Istre and Gregory Miles, who supervised Peter Oiler at Winn-Dixie's Louisiana branch.) E-MAIL OR CALL WINN-DIXIE'S NATIONAL PRESIDENT/CEO, WHO IS TRYING TO SILENCE CALLS FOR FAIRNESS and tell him we'll never stop speaking out against this discrimination. (Contact information for Al Rowland is below.) Click here to see the letter from Rowland's legal staff. SPREAD THE WORD to your friends, family, allies and contacts in the South and nationwide. If they live in the South, they can go to Winn-Dixie's store directory to find out where the store closest to them is. No matter where they live, they can contact the executives who fired Peter Oiler and the Winn-Dixie attorney trying to shield the company from public shame. JOIN THE PROTEST marking the two-year anniversary of Peter's firing outside of Winn-Dixie Corporate Headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida on January 4th. E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. Now is the time to make our voices heard. Today, Winn-Dixie is more worried than ever about having a good image and keeping every single customer. In the last year, Winn-Dixie has fallen 22 spots down the Fortune 500, now ranked at 145. Its stock is trading at a 12-year low, and profits continue falling faster than others in the industry. Here's who to contact and why: MICHAEL ISTRE — [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 504-731-2200 Istre is the President of the Winn-Dixie branch in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, where Peter Oiler worked. He was one of the two people who made the decision to fire Peter Oiler, and he is ultimately responsible for all of the division's employment policies. GREGORY MILES — [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 504-731-2200 Miles swore under oath that he is the other person who made the ultimate decision to fire Peter Oiler, since he oversees the warehouse and distribution center where Peter Oiler worked. He also said in a recent deposition that he supported firing Peter Oiler because customers might "put two and two together" if they saw Peter Oiler cross-dressing in public off-duty, and think that Winn-Dixie supported that "lifestyle." AL ROWLAND — [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 904-783-5000 Rowland is the Prsident and CEO of Winn-Dixie nationally, based at the corporate headquarters in Florida. Just a few days ago, his legal staff sent a letter demanding that a transgendered activist in rural Alabama remove www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com from the Internet. While Rowland wasn't directly involved in firing Peter Oiler, he could have intervened when he learned of the termination. Each of these people need to know how you feel about Winn-Dixie for firing Peter Oiler. They've begun to realize that their image has been badly tarnished because of this discrimination — and they need to know that we won't be intimidated out of voicing our outrage. They need to know that Peter Oiler and his wife of 25 years, Shirley, nearly lost everything when he was fired. Winn-Dixie's leaders need to know they were wrong, and that people are paying attention. Also, more constructively, Istre and Rowland need to know they can implement policy changes in Louisiana and company-wide, respectively. If they wanted to, they could enact personnel policies immediately that said all employees will be judged solely on how they do their jobs — not on discriminatory factors, including sex stereotypes and gender identity, expression or characteristics. Imagine what that kind of basic fairness would do for the company's image... Indeed, a leading national expert in the psychology of consumer behavior said there is no reason to believe that customers would shop elsewhere simply because a company employs transgendered people. Dr. Monroe Friedman says scientific surveys show that customers select 45 criteria as the most important factors in where they buy groceries. This list includes store cleanliness, prices, location, speed at the checkout line and video rentals. It does not include whether the company employs transgendered or gender-variant people, nor does it include any factors involving political, social or moral beliefs. This information came to light during the discovery phase of the federal civil rights lawsuit against Winn-Dixie on behalf of Peter Oiler. In mid-December, Winn-Dixie management will again be deposed under oath in Louisiana about Peter Oiler's termination and Winn-Dixie's policies and practices. The case is expected to go to trial next year. To find out more about Peter and Shirley Oiler, the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project's lawsuit on their behalf, and grassroots action against Winn-Dixie, go to http://www.ShameOnWinnDixie.com. If you have questions or need help, contact the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project's Eric Ferrero, at [EMAIL PROTECTED] , or Louisiana transgender activist Courtney Sharp at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . ShameonWinnDixie.com is produced by a coalition of activists and the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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