Corporate Equality Index 2010: Key Findings

On September 14, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation will release a nationwide report – the Corporate Equality Index 2010 (CEI) – which rates the businesses on a scale from 0 to 100 percent on their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. In the absence of federal protections, the CEI, in its seventh year, shows the private sector is leading the way in working to reduce discrimination.

Key findings:

• 305 businesses achieved the top rating of 100 percent this year, compared with 260 with top ratings in the previous year. Collectively, these businesses employ 9,328,085 full-time U.S. workers. When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation launched the Corporate Equality Index in 2002, only 13 companies received 100 percent.

• Eleven of the top 20 Fortune-ranked companies received 100 percent ratings. McKesson Corp. added gender identity this year to reach 83 percent.

• More than a decade after rescinding partner benefits in 1997, Perot Systems Corp. will reinstate partner benefits beginning in January of 2010. Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil Corp. still refuses to reinstate the policies and benefits that Mobil Corp. had implemented prior to its acquisition by Exxon Corp. in 1999.

• Nearly three-quarters of all rated businesses prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, compared to just 5 percent of rated businesses in 2002.

www.HRC.org/CEI