A conservative Christian organization has launched a protest campaign against Mellon Bank Corp. after the Pittsburgh-based banking company refused to handle the group's charitable annuity transactions.
James Dobson, founder and president of Focus on the Family, an evangelical group based in Colorado Springs, asked listeners on his syndicated radio program on Wednesday to phone Mellon chairman Martin G. McGuinn and chief operating officer Christopher M. Condron to complain about the company's action.
During the broadcast, which according to Focus on the Family reaches 2,000 radio stations nationwide, Mr. Dobson gave out direct phone numbers for the two bank executives. Mr. Dobson had made a similar plea to his listeners last Friday.
Focus on the Family supporters have been calling Mellon ever since, according to a spokesman for the $49 billion-asset banking company.
Mellon executives have refused to talk about the situation. However, the company issued a statement last week attempting to explain why it had turned away Focus on the Family's business.
The banking company, the nation's 19th-largest, said it had discovered that our nondiscrimination policy ... and Focus on the Family's mission statement are in conflict.
At issue was Focus on the Family's stance toward gays, said Thomas Mason, the Christian group's executive vice president.
A Mellon spokesman said the company used its nondiscrimination policy for hiring and promotions as a guideline for deciding which customers to do business with.
Mellon promises equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, familial or marital status, ancestry, citizenship, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability.
Focus on the Family is opposed to same-sex marriages and to public school curriculums that teach children about homosexuality or to accept gays, Mr. Mason said.
However, Mr. Mason said that Focus on the Family's mission statement does not include a policy toward gays. Focus on the Family would never deny a person's right to make that choice, he added.
Our question is, what other businesses has Mellon chosen not to do business with, or what organizations would they not do business with?" Mr. Mason said. At worst the policy seems illegal and at best it seems not smart.
The Mellon spokesman would not say whether it has turned away other customers because of the nondiscrimination guidelines, nor would he speculate which customers may or may not qualify to do business with Mellon.
Mellon may be feeling heat from Focus on the Family, but one law professor said the bank could score points in the gay community and avoid the sort of criticism that befell Bank of Scotland earlier this year when it announced a joint venture with the Christian conservative leader Pat Robertson.
Bank of Scotland cancelled its arrangement with Mr. Robertson after customers complained about the relationship and threatened to take their business elsewhere.
Mark E. Wojcik, a professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago, said that in the Robertson aftermath, Mellon has basically learned that hate doesn't pay. Mellon should find itself in a strong position.
Mr. Wojcik, who specializes in nondiscrimination law, said all areas of Mellon must also comply with local, state, and federal nondiscrimination statutes in order to get city or state banking business.
Mr. Mason of Focus on the Family said his group does not plan to test Mellon's nondiscrimination policy in court, but he would like Mellon to reconsider its position.
It's been one for the books, he said. It may be in their best interest to say, 'We made a mistake.'
