WilmerHale earned a 100 percent rating in the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC). This survey evaluates the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees in the workplace. The firm has received a perfect score every year since 2009. This year, 571 businesses earned CEI’s top score of 100, and WilmerHale was one of 114 law firms to receive a perfect score.
“The top-scoring companies on this year’s CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their operations around the globe and impacting millions of people beyond our shores,” said HRC President Chad Griffin in a press release. To receive a 100 percent rating, businesses must offer parity between different- and same-sex spouses, and have coverage available for domestic partner of enrollees; remove transgender exclusions from all benefits plans; and must include LGBTQ suppliers as part of their supplier diversity program, if such a program is in existence.
The CEI, launched in 2002 to assess LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices at Fortune 500 companies, also highlights how corporate leaders are increasingly stepping up to play a leading role in opposing anti-equality legislation—from statehouses to the US Capitol. The survey assesses each business’s LGBTQ-related non-discrimination policies, domestic partner benefits, availability of diversity councils, advertising and marketing, sponsorship of LGBTQ community events and organizations, and responsible behavior towards the LGBTQ community. WilmerHale earned its perfect score by obtaining top marks in all areas.