Angie's List rejects 'religious freedom' law revision, calls it 'insufficient'

Angie's List calls the revision to the "religious freedom" law "insufficient," becoming the first major local company to reject the deal hammered out by Indiana legislators, the business community and others.

"Our position is that this 'fix' is insufficient," Angie's CEO Bill Oesterle said in a statement Thursday morning. "There was no repeal of RFRA and no end to discrimination of homosexuals in Indiana."

The legislative proposal, announced Thursday morning, would make sexual orientation and gender identity explicitly protected against discrimination in the new law. But the proposal otherwise keeps intact the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence.

Oesterle said that even with the proposed change, "Employers in most of the state of Indiana can fire a person simply for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning.

"That's just not right and that's the real issue here. Our employees deserve to live, work and travel with open accommodations in any part of the state."

Several legal experts say the clarification approved Thursday simply eliminated a provision in the original law that could have overridden local anti-discrimination ordinances that included protections based on sexual orientation. Only Indianapolis and 10 other communities across the state have such ordinances.

The status quo remains in the rest of the state, where discrimination against gays and lesbians is not expressly prohibited because they are not covered by statewide civil rights protections, the experts said.

The rejection of the deal by Oesterle is significant because Angie's List, an online consumer ratings company, has called off a significant expansion of its Near-Eastside corporate campus over the passage of RFRA. The proposed 1,000-job expansion would have included $18 million in subsidies from the state and city.

The Angie's List CEO has said he won't partner with the state in the expansion as long as the RFRA remains intact and protections against those in the LGBT community aren't put in place.

Other businesses that had been critical of the passage of RFRA, including Eli Lilly and Co. and Salesforce.com, showed up to express their support for the revision. Oesterle wasn't seen at the Statehouse announcement.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317)444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.