(IRVING, TX) – Socially responsive investors have filed a shareholder resolution requesting that Irving, Texas-based Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC) amend its equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. The resolution will be voted at Commercial Metals’ annual meeting on Thursday, January 25, 2007.

“Commercial Metals is on a shrinking list of major companies refusing to adopt such a policy,” stated Meredith Benton, Research Associate at Boston-based Walden Asset Management, which is the lead filer of the resolution. More than 85 percent of Fortune 500® companies explicitly bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to Human Rights Campaign, including 98 of the Fortune 100. Major steel companies with inclusive policies, as requested in the resolution, include Alcoa, Ball Corp., Crown Holdings, Newmont Mining, Nucor Corp., Owens-Illinois, Ryerson and U.S. Steel, according to Human Rights Campaign.

Sixteen states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 cities, including Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, currently have laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Of the job openings Commercial Metals had posted on its website on January 4, 2007, forty-one percent were located in cities or states with prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Ms. Benton stated, “Investors are concerned that, without a corporate-wide framework, miscommunication and inconsistencies may increase the risk of discrimination, harassment and litigation.”

National polls consistently find more than three-quarters of Americans support equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. For example, in a Gallup poll conducted in June 2001, 85% of respondents favored equal opportunity in employment for gays and lesbians. Moreover, according to a survey by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs, 41% of gay and lesbian workers in the United States report facing some form of hostility or harassment on the job; almost one out of every 10 gay or lesbian adults also stated that they had been fired or dismissed unfairly from a previous job, or pressured to quit a job because of their sexual orientation. Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation diminishes employee morale and productivity.

Ms. Benton added, “Firms with inclusive employment policies help ensure a respectful and productive atmosphere for all employees and enhance their competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees from the widest pool of talent. Commercial Metals is competing for employees in the state of Texas against companies with inclusive policies, such as Affiliated Computer Services, AMR Corp., Centex, Dean Foods, Omni Hotels, RadioShack, Southwest Airlines, Tenet Healthcare, Texas Instruments and TXU.”

Walden Asset Management (http://www.waldenassetmgmt.com) is the socially responsive investment division of Boston Trust & Investment Management Company. Founded in 1975, Walden has been a pioneer in socially responsive portfolio management on behalf of individual and institutional clients. Walden blends a disciplined investment style and expertise in social screening with a commitment to using its leverage as an investor to improve corporate social performance.

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