BNSF Railway receives Equality 100 Award on human rights campaign Corporate Equality Index 2023

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – For the second year in a row, BNSF Railway has been recognized on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, scoring a 100/100 on LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace.

“At BNSF, we encourage and facilitate a culture of inclusion for all,” said Tom Williams, group vice president of consumer products and executive sponsor of PRIDE+. “We know that an inclusive work environment makes us stronger as individuals, as well as an organization. It’s a journey that together with our PRIDE+ business resource group and our BNSF team members throughout our network we continue to improve.

BNSF understands diversity is crucial to the strength, growth and success of our railroad and we succeed when all employees have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.
BNSF is particularly proud to have improved its score from 90 to 100 since last year. Some of the improvements made include:

• Expanding our voluntary self-identification form to include LGBTQ+ to better understand the composition of our workforce and expand our diversity and inclusion initiatives
• Adding additional benefits for domestic partners, including leave, relocation benefits, and hardship and rollover distribution
• Updating our LGBTQ+ Life Journey to myBNSFbenefits, which helps employees navigate the benefits, resources and support available to them and their families

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index is the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. BNSF joins the ranks of 545 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

“For well over two decades, businesses have played an important role in furthering LGBTQ+ equality by centering employee needs and voices when it comes to workplace inclusion,” said RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, human rights campaign senior director of workplace equality. “Our goal at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is to work in a spirit of partnership with companies by providing educational resources, technology and collaborating on ways for businesses to support the LGBTQ+ community. The CEI is an ever-evolving tool for companies to encourage a more inclusive workplace culture.

The full CEI report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.