Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP

Corporate Bias Rating

Expand Summary

Risk Level:

Medium Risk

Summary:

Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP (Benesch Law) is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Benesch Law occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

View Full Corporate Bias Ratings Report

Criteria

Risk Level

Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level

Rationale

Benesch Law has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (1).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level

N/A

Rationale

Benesch Law does not publish charitable giving guidelines (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level

Rationale

Benesch Law is Mansfield Certified, indicating its support of DEI in its recruitment, hiring, promotions, and leadership composition (1)(2). The company requires employees to take implicit bias training (3). Benesch Law does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (4).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level

Rationale

Benesch Law helped the ACLU of Ohio file a motion to “allow transgender students to use communal restrooms consistent with their gender identity” (1). Benesch Law supports DEI within its business practices, hosting a Diversity & Inclusion Committee (2). Benesch Law has a gender-neutral parental leave policy (3).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level

Rationale

In 2020, Benesch Law pledged to match employee donations “up to $2,500 per person to a maximum of $100,000 total for donations made to approved 501(c)(3) organizations that promote racial justice, human rights and equality, and work to eradicate systemic racism, eliminate police brutality and improve police-community relations” (1). Organizations that received funding include the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the ACLU, the ADL, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. However, Benesch Law has not disclosed which organizations received donations (2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Benesch Law using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level

Rationale

Benesch Law is a part of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, committed to work on initiatives that fight “systemic racism” (1)(2). The company does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (3)(4)(5).

Board Bias

Expand Summary

1792 Exchange has not yet compiled data about the board of directors or political contributions of leadership for this company.