The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, has given nine major Connecticut companies perfect scores.
The 2016 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report assessing LGBT inclusion in major companies and law firms across the nation, includes a total of 15 companies from Connecticut. The 2016 index unveiled that a record 407 businesses – spanning nearly every industry and geography — earned a top score of 100 percent and the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.”
The Connecticut companies with perfect scores were:
- Aetna Inc.
- Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp.
- CIGNA Corp.
- Diageo North America
- FactSet Research Systems Inc.
- General Electric Co.
- Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.
- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
- Xerox Corp.
That record number of perfect scores was achieved despite demanding new criteria requiring that companies with global operations extend non-discrimination protections for their LGBT workers worldwide, according to HRC.
In total, 851 companies were officially rated in the 2016 CEI, up from 781 in the 2015 report. The report also unofficially rated 176 Fortune 500 companies, which have yet to respond to the CEI survey about their LGBT policies and practices. The average score for companies and law firms based in Connecticut is 93 percent. Of the 15 companies ranked, nine earned 100 percent and three earned 90 percent or above.
