PayPal withdraws plans for Charlotte expansion over HB2

PayPal has withdrawn plans for an expansion into Charlotte because it opposes North Carolina’s new law that limits the legal protections of LGBT individuals.

The San Jose, Calif.-based payments company last month announced plans for a new global operations center in Charlotte that would employ over 400 people.

“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,” Dan Schulman, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement Tuesday.

The company had planned to open its office at 1000 Louis Rose Place, off Research Drive in the University City area. The company said the jobs would have an average salary of nearly $51,000 a year, and the company committed to invest $3.6 million in its new facility.

Schulman said the company is now seeking an alternative location for the operations center. Paypal is also working, Schulman said, “to overturn this discriminatory legislation.”

“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,” Schulman added.

North Carolina’s new law, signed March 23 by Gov. Pat McCrory, limits legal protections of LGBT individuals by setting a statewide definition of protected classes of citizens. The new law means schools and local governments cannot adopt more inclusive rules. Legislative leaders said they were responding to Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify.

Last month, the state’s Economic Investment Committee of the N.C. Department of Commerce unanimously approved $3.7 million in state incentives for the San Jose, Calif.-based technology company. The state incentives would also have included $480,000 in community college training, as well as contributions from Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 10:38 AM with the headline "PayPal withdraws plans for Charlotte expansion over HB2."