Terry Szmagala, Senior Vice President of Public and Community Affairs and Corporate Communications, as well as the Executive Sponsor of Eaton’s LGBT Employee Resource Group, Eaton PRIDE, testified this week in support of HB 160. HB 160 would expand many of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) Law’s existing prohibitions against various unlawful discriminatory practices to apply to discriminatory practices on the basis of “sexual orientation,” or “gender identity or expression.” Szmagala said: “One of Eaton’s aspirational goals is to be a model of inclusion in our industry. We have policies and practices in place to cast the widest possible net in order to attract the best and brightest talent from across the country––policies and practices that go well beyond the protections against discrimination that the State of Ohio currently has. “Our business rationale for valuing diversity and inclusion is simple. We need inclusion and diversity to achieve our business objectives – diverse workforces are more effective workforces. Openness to diversity widens our access to the best talent, and inclusion allows us to engage that talent fully. “It is equally important that Ohio be viewed as committed to inclusion and diversity so that Ohio businesses such as ours are able to attract the best talent to the state … Ohio needs to be viewed as a place where inclusion and diversity are valued. Eaton’s success is tied to Ohio’s success and we view this legislation as positioning Ohio as a state of choice for the new economy.” 2/1/2018