Alphecca

William Cos. Inc. Drops Out

From the Austin American Statesman:

TULSA, Okla. — Williams Cos. Inc. has backed out of a federal lawsuit that challenges a new Oklahoma law that allows employees to keep firearms in their cars at work, leaving Houston-based ConocoPhillips as the primary plaintiff.

Whirlpool Corp. and The State Chamber had earlier opted out of the litigation. The law has been blocked pending the lawsuit.

In a written statement it released Tuesday, Williams Cos., said that continuing to pursue "this isolated issue through the courts would require a disproportionately large dedication of company time and resources.

"We believe we can better serve our employees, shareholders and customers by directing those resources to more productive activities," the Tulsa-based natural gas company said in its release.

Williams Cos. spokesman Kelly Swan said the company's decision to drop out of the lawsuit was not in response to any public criticism.

Last week, the National Rifle Association called for a nationwide boycott of ConocoPhillips.