Global currency exchange company announces Tuesday morning it would be abandoning plans for a global operations center in Charlotte

“Unequivocal” that its decision was made because of the state’s passage of HB2

When Governor Pat McCrory signed HB2 into law, a sweepingly discriminatory law against the LGBT community essentially blocking local governments from passing non-discrimination legislation based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the backlash from equal-rights advocates/allies was decisively swift.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York was the first to ban non-essential travel from his employees to the state, but soon many other state governors followed, with still more legislators and public servants making statements sternly rejecting the state’s condoning of bigotry.

The private sector, too, followed suit, with more than 100 major CEOs and business leaders signing a letter addressed to McCrory urging the law be immediately repealed.

More than 100 major CEOs & business leaders urge North Carolina to repeal radical anti-LGBT law #NoHateinMyState https://t.co/Gp8IM5ApLe — HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) March 31, 2016

It seems now that many of these companies are prepared to make good on their word, with Paypal announcing Tuesday morning that they would be withdrawing their plan to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, which would have employed over 400 people in skilled jobs.

In his statement, CEO Dan Schulman explained in a statement posted to their website that “legislation has been abruptly enacted by the State of North Carolina that invalidates protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens and denies these members of our community equal rights under the law.”

Schulman continued:

The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte. This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect. These principles of fairness, inclusion and equality are at the heart of everything we seek to achieve and stand for as a company. And they compel us to take action to oppose discrimination. Our decision is a clear and unambiguous one. But we do regret that we will not have the opportunity to be a part of the Charlotte community and to count as colleagues the skilled and talented people of the region. As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable. While we will seek an alternative location for our operations center, we remain committed to working with the LGBT community in North Carolina to overturn this discriminatory legislation, alongside all those who are committed to equality. We will stand firm in our commitment to equality and inclusion and our conviction that we can make a difference by living and acting on our values. It’s the right thing to do for our employees, our customers, and our communities.

Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal

The move by PayPal is the latest push-back from the private sector to increasingly exercise their economic muscle in the state as a means of pressuring HB2 into being repealed. The law was swiftly passed in a single calendar day as somewhat of a revenge for Charlotte passing LGBT nondiscrimination protections.

PayPal joins Google Ventures as the latest tech company to stand in solidarity with the LGBT community, with the aforementioned announcing last week that it would not back any companies in North Carolina until HB2 is repealed.

At the time of PayPal’s announcement to open its global operations center a few weeks ago, McCrory said “North Carolina is the ideal destination for innovation-based, worldwide companies like PayPal. Today’s announcement means that we can add another prominent company to the state’s growing list of technology businesses with major operations here.”

Your move, Governor.