W. L. Gore & Associates

private employee-owned company

W. L. Gore & Associates

Industry Manufacturing

An employee-owned materials company behind Gore-Tex and specialty products, with associate ownership but chemical, PFAS, and accountability-opacity concerns. W. L. Gore & Associates remains weak because of ecological harm, person-dependent governance, and documented human harm, even where the product or service has practical value.

Why this matters: Employee ownership in advanced materials requires parallel review of worker control and product externalities.

Letter grade D Extractive High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1

Final Score 12* D - Extractive
DEXTRACTIVE12 tentative score pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material39
Bonus+0
Cap66No structure cap
After Cap39
Penalties-27
L
Policy Capture: L for Lobbying

The L badge appears when the Policy Capture penalty is severe. Here, L stands for Lobbying: the policy-capture value is -8, meaning the evidence indicates major private-interest lobbying or policy pressure against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, democratic accountability, or ecological life.

Evidence: [16]

!Not Verified
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Evaluation Overview

D - Extractive

The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Policy Capture.

Strengths

  • Ownership6/10
  • Extraction5/10
  • Labor Sovereignty5/7

Penalties

  • Policy Capture-8
  • Reversibility-5
  • Ecological Harm-5
  • Human Harm-4

Evidence state

  • ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
  • ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)
  • Linked claims16
  • Direct axis claims15
  • Coverage15/15

Scoring Axes
Axis Score Why this score
Ownership
?
Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.
6 / 10

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 125 scored entries below, 20 tied, 81 above on Ownership.

Linked evidence
  • W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
Governance
?
Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.
4 / 10

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 108 scored entries below, 18 tied, 100 above on Governance.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • W. L. Gore describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership and an associate-centered culture rather than public, customer, or community governance. [2]
Extraction
?
Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.
5 / 10

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 95 scored entries below, 19 tied, 112 above on Extraction.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • W. L. Gore's broad associate ownership directs some enterprise value toward associates, while private advanced-materials control and PFAS litigation concerns limit the structure's protective force. [3]
Labor Sovereignty
?
Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.
5 / 7

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 152 scored entries below, 40 tied, 34 above on Labor Sovereignty.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • W. L. Gore describes broad associate ownership and a distinctive associate-centered culture, supporting labor sovereignty above ordinary private employment but requiring caution because culture is not the same as binding democracy. [4]
Solidarity with the Unemployed
?
Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.
4 / 7

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 127 scored entries below, 30 tied, 69 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • Gore's associate-centered ownership and culture protect insiders more than a normal private employer, but the reviewed record does not show comparable protection for surrounding communities affected by PFAS allegations. [5]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity
?
Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.
4 / 7

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 88 scored entries below, 30 tied, 108 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • Maryland's PFAS lawsuit alleges pollution around Gore facilities and health risks to surrounding communities, documenting costs outside the company and its customers. [6]
Market Conduct
?
Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.
3 / 5

Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 54 scored entries below, 51 tied, 121 above on Market Conduct.

Linked evidence
  • context Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products. [7]
  • Gore sells advanced materials and fluoropolymer products with useful technical applications, while PFAS litigation and regulatory exposure affect the market relationship. [8]
Product Integrity
?
Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.
4 / 5

Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 61 scored entries below, 72 tied, 93 above on Product Integrity.

Linked evidence
  • Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products. [7]
Scale Integrity
?
Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.
4 / 5

Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 109 scored entries below, 81 tied, 36 above on Scale Integrity.

Linked evidence
  • context Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products. [7]
  • Gore's advanced-materials scale extends technical usefulness while magnifying PFAS, supply-chain, and community-risk concerns around its products and facilities. [9]

Penalties
Penalty Applied Why this penalty
Reversibility
?
Applied when positive conduct depends on current living leaders, founders, family owners, or other person-contingent governance rather than durable structure. Range: -5 to 0.
-5

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 95 tied, 131 above on Reversibility.

Linked evidence
  • context W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership. [1]
  • W. L. Gore & Associates's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. [10]
Human Harm
?
Severity, scale, culpability, vulnerable targets, willful reoffense, reputation laundering, pattern escalation, and time decay. Range: -20 to 0.
-4

Maryland sued W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 48 scored entries below, 3 tied, 175 above on Human Harm.

Linked evidence
  • Maryland sued W. L. Gore & Associates alleging PFAS pollution around facilities and health risks to surrounding communities; the case describes conduct considered under Human Harm. [11]
Ecological Harm
?
Footprint, trajectory, irreversibility, culpability, and scale, including whether ecological harm is central to the model and continued after credible notice. Range: -30 to 0.
-5

Maryland sued W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 21 scored entries below, 11 tied, 194 above on Ecological Harm.

Linked evidence
  • Maryland sued W. L. Gore & Associates alleging PFAS pollution of air and water around company facilities, describes conduct considered under Ecological Harm. [12]
Policy Capture
?
Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes, enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental, healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.
-8

OpenLobby records W.L.

Linked evidence
  • OpenLobby records W.L. GORE & ASSOCIATES lobbying on energy, tariffs, trade, defense, healthcare, natural resources, and other issues with about $6.5M in spending across 32 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. [16]
Toxic Products
?
Current sale of products whose ordinary use, exposure, ingredients, residues, packaging, or formulation creates toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety risk. Food products receive at least light scrutiny for artificial colors, artificial flavors, petro-derived additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, endocrine-disrupting packaging, and ultra-processed formulation. Ordinary adult nightlife or alcohol service is not penalized by itself without evidence of predatory marketing, youth targeting, addiction-extractive design, or unusual product-safety misconduct. Range: -5 to 0.
-3

W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 9 scored entries below, 4 tied, 213 above on Toxic Products.

Linked evidence
  • W. L. Gore & Associates currently sells fluoropolymer and advanced-material products while PFAS exposure and pollution are material to the current evidence record; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen. [14]
Accountability Opacity
?
Material opacity, reputation laundering, or hidden accountability structures that prevent public accountability. Range: -2 to 0.
-2

The Maryland PFAS lawsuit against W.

Calibration notes

Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 52 tied, 174 above on Accountability Opacity.

Linked evidence
  • The Maryland PFAS lawsuit against W. L. Gore alleges the company kept using forever chemicals after learning about serious health risks, describes conduct considered under Accountability Opacity at allegation-stage confidence. [13]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

High 81/100

16 verified linked claims 15 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 15/15 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 15/20

16 verified linked claims

Source quality 14/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 14/18

15 direct claims across 15 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 10/10

15/15 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending
VerificationUnverified
ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)
Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.
Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.
1W. L. Gore & Associates describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership.

Ownership Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

2W. L. Gore describes itself as a privately held enterprise with broad associate ownership and an associate-centered culture rather than public, customer, or community governance.

Governance Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

3W. L. Gore's broad associate ownership directs some enterprise value toward associates, while private advanced-materials control and PFAS litigation concerns limit the structure's protective force.

Extraction Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

4W. L. Gore describes broad associate ownership and a distinctive associate-centered culture, supporting labor sovereignty above ordinary private employment but requiring caution because culture is not the same as binding democracy.

Labor Sovereignty Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

5Gore's associate-centered ownership and culture protect insiders more than a normal private employer, but the reviewed record does not show comparable protection for surrounding communities affected by PFAS allegations.

Solidarity Unemployed Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

6Maryland's PFAS lawsuit alleges pollution around Gore facilities and health risks to surrounding communities, documenting costs outside the company and its customers.

Loss Bearing Fidelity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

7Gore publishes responsibility and sustainability information for its advanced materials and products.

Product Integrity Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

8Gore sells advanced materials and fluoropolymer products with useful technical applications, while PFAS litigation and regulatory exposure affect the market relationship.

Market Conduct Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

9Gore's advanced-materials scale extends technical usefulness while magnifying PFAS, supply-chain, and community-risk concerns around its products and facilities.

Scale Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

10W. L. Gore & Associates's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure.

Reversibility Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

11Maryland sued W. L. Gore & Associates alleging PFAS pollution around facilities and health risks to surrounding communities; the case describes conduct considered under Human Harm.

Human Harm Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

12Maryland sued W. L. Gore & Associates alleging PFAS pollution of air and water around company facilities, describes conduct considered under Ecological Harm.

Ecological Harm Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

13The Maryland PFAS lawsuit against W. L. Gore alleges the company kept using forever chemicals after learning about serious health risks, describes conduct considered under Accountability Opacity at allegation-stage confidence.

Accountability Opacity Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed

14W. L. Gore & Associates currently sells fluoropolymer and advanced-material products while PFAS exposure and pollution are material to the current evidence record; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen.

Toxic Products Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

15W. L. Gore & Associates's public materials state a mission, values, ownership model, advocacy role, or institutional standpoint plainly enough that this record does not identify penalty-level neutrality theater.

Ideological Disavowal Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

16OpenLobby records W.L. GORE & ASSOCIATES lobbying on energy, tariffs, trade, defense, healthcare, natural resources, and other issues with about $6.5M in spending across 32 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role.

Policy Capture Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending

AI scaffold

Alternatives

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Competitors

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How This Page Is Maintained

Evidence comes in through contributors, is checked by verifiers, and is synthesized by reviewers. Founder authority remains narrow and visible; scores recalculate when verified claims or the rubric change.

Civic Note

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

ai-scaffolding toxic-products-assessment

Added tentative AI-generated Toxic Products penalty -3 and directory value for current toxic, addictive, pesticide, livestock, chemical, or consumer-safety product exposure.

ai-scaffolding confidence-calibration

Rechecked evidence coverage and source quality during the evaluation-quality pass; confidence now reflects direct source coverage, complexity, and remaining uncertainty rather than score direction.

ai-scaffolding ai-scaffolding-score

Added tentative AI-generated claim-backed score components for a previously listed under-review company or group.

View Full Audit Log