Back in March Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law RFRA legislation for the state of Indiana. Federal RFRA laws have been in affect for almost 20 years. States throughout the years have implemented their own versions along the way. After Governor Pence signed the legislation into law, manufactured political chaos ensued. Opponents of the law protested and made claims that instant discrimination would hit every aspect of our daily lives. Gay people would not be employable, muslims would be violated and the Indiana economy would crash.

Marc Benioff, CEO of SalesForce.com, is a big critic of the law and hit social media with a threat towards Indiana. Here was his post on Twitter:

I countered this claim from the economic side with a post titled  “Is Marc Benioff Breaking the Law With His Indiana Law His Indiana Ban?”

Eight months have passed and I decided to do a follow up on Marc Benioff’s threat to see if he started pulling out investment in Indiana. I contacted SalesForce.com media people back on November 12th. Needless to say the whole back and forth of multiple e-mails with SalesForce.com turned into them saying “No” without saying it. SalesForce spokesperson was very professional and here is what he provided me with:

Thanks for reaching out on these fact checks. We did not disclose those numbers. As you know, Salesforce was one of many businesses that took a stand against the original RFRA law passed earlier this year…and we were pleased it was revised so quickly. Our CEO tweeted about it here:

SalesForce spokesperson even included they are now part of “Indiana Competes” which is a collective of businesses wanting anti-discrimination legislation in Indiana. Their agenda already exists in a broader context and will not pass. The Indiana Assembly is putting together amendments for RFRA, but overall these businesses still do not want to accept no legal language is going to pinpoint specific political groups.

This whole incident goes back to today’s age of political manufactured outrage which needs to halt completely. You can be an opponent of a law, but at least study it before making threats that could carry long term consequences. American society revels in knowing who leaders are and what traits they carry in which made them successful. Unfortunately some of these traits are now “Scream first, look at facts later”.