LOS ANGELES -- The corporate world — especially at law firms and big banks — is a much better place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees than it was a decade ago, according to a report from LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.
When the Corporate Equality Index first was calculated in 2002 to check major U.S. companies for policies mandating equal treatment of workers regardless of sexual orientation, 13 businesses of 319 had a perfect score. This year, with even more criteria, 190 companies out of 636 participants landed a 100 percent rating.
That included 55 law firms and 22 banks and financial services such as Bank of America Corp.,
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.
Consulting companies did well, as did retailers and those in the food-beverage-grocery sector. Other companies with 100 percent ratings included AT&T Inc. and Ford Motor Co.
Transportation and travel businesses had few perfect scorers. Oil and gas companies, as well as mining and metal firms, also did not have many scorers at the top. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had a 60 percent rating, as did General Electric Co. Exxon Mobil Corp. scored minus 25 percent.
The majority of participants scored more than 80 percent, with many more firms offering nondiscrimination policies that include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," medical benefits that don't distinguish between spouses and partners, and health care that factors in transgender needs.
Human Rights Campaign invited publicly traded companies from the Fortune 1000 list as well as firms in the top 200 of American Lawyer magazine's rankings. Any private employer with at least 500 full-time U.S. employees could ask to be included.
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