It's still perfectly legal for Missouri companies to discriminate against LGBTQ employees — but a growing number are taking steps on their own to combat discrimination.
In fact, twenty major companies and large law firms in the state earned a perfect "100" score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2018 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report assessing LGBTQ inclusion. Sixteen of those were based in St. Louis.
The St. Louis employers rated 100 on the index include the following companies:
- Fleishman-Hillard Inc.
- Edward Jones
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
- Monsanto Co.
- Ameren Corp.
- Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.
- Centene Corp.
- Express Scripts Holding Company
- Armstrong Teasdale LLP
- Bryan Cave LLP
- Husch Blackwell LLP
- Thompson Coburn LLP
- Emerson Electric Co.
- Nestle Purina PetCare Co.
- Caleres
- Mallinckrodt LLC
In the honorable mention category, Enterprise Holdings of St. Louis scored a 95, missing the perfect score by just five points. Chesterfield's Reinsurance Group of America Inc. earned an 85, while the Laclede Group earned a 65.
Across the nation, 609 businesses earned the CEI’s top score of 100 — an 18 percent increase since last year, the foundation said.
“At a time when the rights of LGBTQ people are under attack by the Trump-Pence Administration and state legislatures across the country, hundreds of top American companies are driving progress toward equality in the workplace,” said HRC President Chad Griffin in a press release.
The index rates companies and top law firms based on five categories: non-discrimination policies, employment benefits, demonstration organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion, public commitment to LGBTQ equality and responsible citizenship.
Griffin says the top-scoring companies are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the U.S., but are applying these policies around the globe, impacting millions. He says many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality.
“We are proud to have developed so many strong partnerships with corporate allies who see LGBTQ equality as a crucial issue for our country and for their businesses,” Griffin says.
The full report, including a searchable employer database, can be found here.
