In April 2024, West Virginia placed Northern Trust on its Restricted Financial Institutions List for its “boycott of energy companies” according to its ESG policies and publicly available statements. Northern Trust scored a 100 on the 2023 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. By complying with the HRC’s controversial demands, Northern Trust increases the risk of dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders. The company covers transgender-related medical costs for its employees and their children and provides specific sexual orientation and gender identity-based benefits. It also uses sex and gender ideology criteria in employee recruitment, vendor selection, marketing, and philanthropic support. Northern Trust forces employees to undergo multiple ideological trainings and uses its reputation, corporate funds, and political influence to support controversial sex and gender ideologies, organizations, and legislation. Northern Trust does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees. For these reasons, Northern Trust receives a High Risk rating.