Photo Illustration: Jason Doiy/The Recorder.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation recently released its annual report assessing LGBTQ inclusion in major U.S. companies and law firms. And it looks as though many organizations have stepped up their game.

This year, 609 companies earned the top score of 100, based on such factors as offering equivalent spousal and partner medical benefits for LGBTQ employees, offering transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage and prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

This is a marked increase from the 517 that received the top rating last year, and it represents the highest number of top-rated businesses since the first Index in 2002, according to the 2018 Corporate Equality Index.

“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 statement. “In addition, many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the 106 corporate supporters of the Equality Act.”

We reached out to several in-house attorneys from top-ranked companies about why and how they've focused on making their workplaces LGBTQ-friendly. Responses have been edited for clarity and length:

David Zapolsky, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Amazon.com Inc.:

Equality has been a core value at Amazon from the start. We believe all our employees deserve equal treatment, and we've worked hard to ensure that our policies and culture reflect that. For example, we were an early supporter of marriage equality and transgender rights, and we provide the same benefits to our straight employees and their partners as we do to our LGBTQ employees and their partners. And we've had an active LGBTQ employee affinity group, glamazon, since 1999.

[This is a priority at Amazon because] it's simply right. We want all of our employees to have the same rights, and as a company we've taken a firm stand on this. I'm very proud of the work Amazon has done on behalf of our LGBTQ employees.

Lori Schechter, executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at McKesson Corp.:

We think of the HRC's Corporate Equality Index as the gold standard for best practices. Five years ago, we proactively reviewed all of our policies and practices—from workplace harassment to parental leave and health insurance parity—to really ensure we were meeting those high standards. We went through those policies and if we hadn't identified it before as an area we wanted to focus on, we made sure we did. And then we made sure we had senior leaders talking about this and that we engaged our employee resources.

One reason this is a focus for us is because of our company values, called “ICARE.” The “R” stands for “respect,” and that's a big focus for us. Because of that, aligning with HRC's policies in this regard fits squarely into our vision of respect. We also believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce really does produce the best results for customers and those within the business, so we are constantly reviewing and taking steps to ensure that we are aligned in that way.

Stacey Maris, senior vice president, assistant general counsel and secretary at AT&T Inc.:

The starting point for us is really that diversity is one of our core values at AT&T. It starts with our chairman and it cascades throughout the company. And our leadership in this space goes back to 1975, when AT&T became one of the first major corporations in the United States to adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Then, in 1987, an employee resource group was established called LEAGUE at AT&T, which is an employee resource group for LGBT employees. In 1998, we adopted a domestic partner benefits program, and in 2006, we began offering transgender-inclusive health care benefits.

I think that as a fundamental matter, this is just the right thing to do. We recognize all forms of diversity and we think they're all important. And then we want to give people space in the workplace to be authentic, because it drives innovation and creativity.

To stay in the know about top issues for in-house counsel, email [email protected] to sign up for “Inside Track,” a new email briefing from Law.com. Written once a week by reporter Jennifer Williams-Alvarez, this newsletter keeps you up to date on what your in-house colleagues are up to.

Photo Illustration: Jason Doiy/The Recorder.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation recently released its annual report assessing LGBTQ inclusion in major U.S. companies and law firms. And it looks as though many organizations have stepped up their game.

This year, 609 companies earned the top score of 100, based on such factors as offering equivalent spousal and partner medical benefits for LGBTQ employees, offering transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage and prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

This is a marked increase from the 517 that received the top rating last year, and it represents the highest number of top-rated businesses since the first Index in 2002, according to the 2018 Corporate Equality Index.

“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 statement. “In addition, many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the 106 corporate supporters of the Equality Act.”

We reached out to several in-house attorneys from top-ranked companies about why and how they've focused on making their workplaces LGBTQ-friendly. Responses have been edited for clarity and length:

David Zapolsky, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Amazon.com Inc.:

Equality has been a core value at Amazon from the start. We believe all our employees deserve equal treatment, and we've worked hard to ensure that our policies and culture reflect that. For example, we were an early supporter of marriage equality and transgender rights, and we provide the same benefits to our straight employees and their partners as we do to our LGBTQ employees and their partners. And we've had an active LGBTQ employee affinity group, glamazon, since 1999.

[This is a priority at Amazon because] it's simply right. We want all of our employees to have the same rights, and as a company we've taken a firm stand on this. I'm very proud of the work Amazon has done on behalf of our LGBTQ employees.

Lori Schechter, executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at McKesson Corp.:

We think of the HRC's Corporate Equality Index as the gold standard for best practices. Five years ago, we proactively reviewed all of our policies and practices—from workplace harassment to parental leave and health insurance parity—to really ensure we were meeting those high standards. We went through those policies and if we hadn't identified it before as an area we wanted to focus on, we made sure we did. And then we made sure we had senior leaders talking about this and that we engaged our employee resources.

One reason this is a focus for us is because of our company values, called “ICARE.” The “R” stands for “respect,” and that's a big focus for us. Because of that, aligning with HRC's policies in this regard fits squarely into our vision of respect. We also believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce really does produce the best results for customers and those within the business, so we are constantly reviewing and taking steps to ensure that we are aligned in that way.

Stacey Maris, senior vice president, assistant general counsel and secretary at AT&T Inc.:

The starting point for us is really that diversity is one of our core values at AT&T. It starts with our chairman and it cascades throughout the company. And our leadership in this space goes back to 1975, when AT&T became one of the first major corporations in the United States to adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Then, in 1987, an employee resource group was established called LEAGUE at AT&T, which is an employee resource group for LGBT employees. In 1998, we adopted a domestic partner benefits program, and in 2006, we began offering transgender-inclusive health care benefits.

I think that as a fundamental matter, this is just the right thing to do. We recognize all forms of diversity and we think they're all important. And then we want to give people space in the workplace to be authentic, because it drives innovation and creativity.

To stay in the know about top issues for in-house counsel, email [email protected] to sign up for “Inside Track,” a new email briefing from Law.com. Written once a week by reporter Jennifer Williams-Alvarez, this newsletter keeps you up to date on what your in-house colleagues are up to.