The Human Rights Campaign released their 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) this week, the 20th year of the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring company policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.
This year, a record-breaking 842 businesses employing 14.3 million workers earned the CEI’s top score of 100, up from only 13 in its inaugural year. The newly created CEI criteria included a host of new metrics including gender-affirming healthcare and workplace policies, LGBTQ+ family formation benefit offerings, and training and data collection best practices.
As part of the CEI, 56 Ohio-based companies were scored. Some highlights:
- 28 Ohio companies scored a perfect 100, representing a full half of all Ohio-based companies demonstrating as much commitment to their LGBTQ+ employees as the survey measures.
- AK Steel Holding Corp (West Chester), The Andersons Inc. (Maumee), Cincinnati Financial Corp. (Fairfield), Cintas Corp. (Cincinnati), Parker Hannifin Corp (Cleveland), TravelCenters of America (Westlake), and Western & Southern Financial Group (Cincinnati) are all Fortune 500 companies that did not respond to repeated invitations to the CEI survey. Their failing scores were based on information publicly available.
- The company making the most annual improvement from was Scotts Miracle-Gro Company in Marysville, which went from an 80 in 2021 to a perfect 100 score this year.
“Every year the CEI helps set the bar and provide direction for companies to take actionable steps for LGBTQ+ inclusion and measure their progress towards these goals,” said Amanda Cole, Executive Director of Plexus LGBT + Allied Chamber of Commerce. “We are always honored to work with companies in their inclusion efforts. For example, in the past year, the J.M. Smucker Company launched an LGBTQ+ employee resource group (ERG), invested in local LGBTQ initiatives and events, and joined Plexus. I’m sure these investments internally and back into the community played a role in the notable increase in their ranking.”
The full list of Ohio-based companies is presented here:
| Employer | Location | 2022 CEI Rating | 2021 CEI Rating |
| Abercrombie & Fitch Co. | New Albany | 100 | 100 |
| AK Steel Holding Corp | West Chester | 0 | 20 |
| Alliance Data Systems Corp. | Columbus | 90 | 80 |
| American Electric Power Co. Inc | Columbus | 95 | 100 |
| American Financial Group | Cincinnati | 50 | 20 |
| American Greeting Corp. | Cleveland | 100 | 90 |
| Andersons Inc., The | Maumee | 20 | 20 |
| Avient Corporation | Avon Lake | 100 | 100 |
| Baker & Hostetler LLP | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| Bath & Body Works, LLC | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | Columbus | 100 | 95 |
| Big Lots | Columbus | 90 | 90 |
| Bob Evans Farms Inc. | New Albany | 60 | 60 |
| Cardinal Health Inc. | Dublin | 100 | 100 |
| CareSource | Dayton | 90 | 70 |
| Cincinnati Financial Corp. | Fairfield | 20 | X |
| Cintas Corp. | Cincinnati | 10 | 20 |
| Convergys Corp. | Cincinnati | 90 | 90 |
| Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. | Findlay | 100 | 100 |
| Dana Inc. | Maumee | 65 | 90 |
| Designer Brands | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated | North Canton | 90 | X |
| Dinsmore & Shohl LLP | Cincinnati | 90 | 90 |
| Eaton Corp. | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| Encova Insurance | Columbus | 80 | 80 |
| Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| Fifth Third Bancorp | Cincinnati | 100 | 100 |
| FirstEnergy Corp. | Akron | 90 | 90 |
| Frost Brown Todd LLC | Cincinnati | 100 | 100 |
| Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. | Akron | 90 | 90 |
| Huntington Bancshares Inc. | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Hyland Software inc. | Westlake | 85 | 75 |
| J. M. Smucker Co. | Orrville | 95 | 80 |
| KeyCorp | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| Kroger Co., The | Cincinnati | 100 | 100 |
| Lubrizol Corp. | Wickliffe | 85 | 90 |
| Macy’s Inc. | Cincinnati | 100 | 100 |
| Marathon Petroleum Corp. | Findlay | 100 | 100 |
| Nationwide | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Northfield Park Associates, LLC | Northfield | 55 | 55 |
| O-I Glass | Perrysburg | 50 | 50 |
| Owens Corning | Toledo | 100 | 100 |
| Parker Hannifin Corp. | Cleveland | 20 | 20 |
| Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP | Columbus | 90 | 90 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | Cincinati | 100 | 100 |
| Progressive Corp., The | Mayfield Village | 85 | 85 |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro Company | Marysville | 100 | 80 |
| Sherwin-Williams Co., The | Cleveland | 100 | 95 |
| Signet Jewelers | Akron | 85 | X |
| Squire Patton Boggs | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| Thompson Hine LLP | Cleveland | 100 | 100 |
| TravelCenters of America | Westlake | 10 | 10 |
| Victoria’s Secret & Co. | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP | Columbus | 100 | 100 |
| Wendy’s Co., The | Dublin | 100 | 100 |
| Western & Southern Financial Group | Cincinnati | 0 | 0 |
(Additional reporting for this piece provided by Cassidy Naypauer.)
Ignite Action:
- Plexus hosts an ERG Council every month on Zoom to offer peer-to-peer resource sharing, increase collaboration across sectors and between companies, and to ensure companies in Ohio (and beyond) can attract and retain a diverse workforce. The April meeting will be specifically focused on supporting companies applying in 2022 to the CEI for the first time or to those companies who have yet to reach a 100 score. More info on that meeting here.
