Ben & Jerry’s Makes HRC’s LGBT Workplace Equality Honor Roll

November 19, 2015

Earth-shattering ice cream has the power to open our minds to diverse, unexpected and overachieving flavors. At Ben & Jerry’s, it’s our belief that a healthy, functioning workplace stems from a mix of similarly inspiring ingredients.

Advocating for employee-wide LGBT equality since the get-go has been key to fostering that environment. And our efforts were highlighted this past month when we tallied a perfect 100/100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2015 Corporate Equality Index Rating.

When it comes to gay rights in the workplace, Ben & Jerry’s now officially ranks among America’s most progressive companies. It’s the kind of report card we’re proud to pin to the fridge!

Who’s Keeping Score?

HRC is America’s leading civil rights organization, with more than 1.5 million members actively advocating for LGBT equality. Its 2015 Corporate Equality Index Rating ranks businesses from various industries on how well they’re doing when it comes to supporting LGBT rights in the workplace.

Ben & Jerry’s was graded across a comprehensive set of criteria, including: health care coverage; workplace non-discrimination; being an equal opportunity employer; and—what you see here and in our regular reporting—public engagement efforts that support LGBT equality and responsible citizenship.

A perfect score across the board means that Ben & Jerry’s gives equal opportunity, benefits and support to all employees regardless of sexual orientations or gender identity. It also gives us the honorable distinction of being one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.”

More Than Kudos, It’s About Commitment

Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to issues of social justice, including gay rights. We’ve supported marriage equality for more than 35 years and, in the late ’80s, we began offering health and insurance benefits to all domestic partners—nixing unjust distinctions between same- and opposite-sex couples.

Today, those ideals are integral to our core values that include an unshakable belief that all people deserve full and equal civil rights.

To celebrate that sentiment, as well as the recent Supreme Court ruling on Marriage Equality, we renamed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “I Dough, I Dough” at participating Scoop Shops nationwide. And we’re not resting there. Our 100/100 score on the LGBT Equality Index is just one step toward a greater goal: the continued push for full LGBT rights and discrimination protections across the country.