A day after Washington, DC, lobbyist Jack Burkman announced that he would push for legislation to prohibit the National Football League from employing gay players, one of his clients has severed all ties with him.
DC Solar Solutions, Inc., a California-based green energy company, told ThinkProgress on Tuesday that it would no longer allow Burkman to represent the company because of his comments. The company’s CEO Jeffrey Carpoff and COO Paulette Carpoff released a joint statement saying that the company has “severed ties” with Burkman “effective immediately”:
DC Solar does not condone or support Mr. Burkman’s homophobic views, and since learning about his misguided efforts to write legislation banning gay athletes from the NFL, we have ended our relationship with him. DC Solar values diversity within our company and within our communities, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any sort. As a company working to address issues about our country’s future, we have no intention of working with those who are stuck in the past.
Other Burkman clients told ThinkProgress that they were “flabbergasted” by the anti-LGBT comments — as well as earlier comments by Burkman opposing women in the workplace — and that they wished he would focus on representing their interests rather than his own extreme views.