Covington Awarded Top HRC Rating for Thirteenth Consecutive Year
January 28, 2021
WASHINGTON—The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) has awarded Covington a perfect score of 100 percent for the thirteenth consecutive year on its Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
“The firm continues to view diversity and inclusion as a key priority, and these values fundamentally reflect who we want to be as an institution,” said Doug Gibson, Covington’s chair. “To underscore our commitment, we have enhanced and expanded our D&I structure to hold ourselves accountable for our goals and to support all our lawyers and staff globally. While more improvement can and should be made, we are proud that our determined efforts have produced tangible results.”
Covington’s 100-percent rating is a result of various firm policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBTQ community.
In 2020, Covington hired Marlene Aquino to serve as the firm's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. The firm also appointed a standing committee on D&I to review progress against its goals, continued to engage its D&I geographic leads to drive activities at a regional level, and expanded its affinity groups to support both lawyers and staff.
“Our participating companies know that building an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace is not just the right thing to do — it is also the best business decision — allowing companies to attract, retain and engage top talent,” said Alphonso David, HRC President.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for LGBTQ people. For more information on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.