09.17.07
Report ranks gay-friendly employers
Walt Disney Co., SunTrust Banks Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Save-A-Lot grocery stores’ parent company SuperValu Inc. are among nearly 200 major U.S. employers cited this year for gay-friendly policies.
The Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights advocacy group in Washington, D.C., released its sixth annual Corporate Equality Index this morning. Of the 519 major public and private corporations that were rated, 195 achieved perfect 100 percent scores, which means they offer a range of gay-friendly policies, including same-sex domestic-partner benefits and diversity/anti-discrimination training programs.
Orlando’s sole Fortune 500 company, Darden Restaurants Inc., scored an 80 on the equality index. Other corporations with a Central Florida presence scoring 100 included Best Buy Co. Inc., The Charles Schwab Corp., Foley & Lardner, Hewitt Associates, Holland & Knight, Merrill Lynch & Co., MetLife Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., and United Parcel Service Inc.