The Accountability Index is not a morality score
Plumbline publishes no judgment about whether a company is good or bad. The Accountability Index is a transparent measurement of what the public record contains, scored across seven categories. Each category begins at 100. Deductions are applied only where a documented event exists, and every deduction states its reason and links directly to the supporting evidence. Clicking any score opens the documentation behind it.
Categories measured
- Transparency: Completeness and accessibility of the company's own public disclosures.
- Consumer Practices: Documented consumer protection actions, disclosure practices, and remedies.
- Labor Practices: Documented workplace safety and labor findings, citations, and resolutions.
- Environmental Stewardship: Documented environmental enforcement, orders, and remediation.
- Corporate Governance: Documented governance findings, filings integrity, and oversight actions.
- Regulatory Compliance: Active orders, compliance obligations, and their remediation status.
- Litigation Activity: Docketed matters weighted by status, outcome, and finality.
How deductions are weighted
Weighting follows status and finality, not severity of headline. A formal Regulatory Finding or a final Judgment carries the largest deduction. A Settlement carries a moderate deduction because it resolves a matter without a liability finding. An open investigation or a filed complaint carries a small deduction that reflects uncertainty. A Dismissed matter carries no deduction, and it is still documented so the record stays symmetrical. Deductions decay as remediation obligations are satisfied on the public record.
What can never affect a score
- Community opinion, sentiment, ratings, and comments.
- Tier 4 sources: blogs, opinion pieces, social media, anonymous tips.
- Political affiliation, public statements on policy, or the identity of any individual.
- Whether the company has engaged with Plumbline or submitted a response.
Legal and transparency notices
- The platform summarizes publicly available information.
- AI assists with research but does not make legal conclusions.
- Human administrators review all published content.
- Allegations, investigations, settlements, and judgments are distinct categories and are never conflated.
- Companies may submit corrections and official responses.
- Every factual statement is supported by cited sources.
Version history
Methodology versions remain public forever. Every company profile records the methodology version under which it was last measured.
- v2.3 · 2026-04-01 — Separated Appeal Pending from Judgment for deduction weighting.
- v2.2 · 2025-11-12 — Added remediation decay so deductions reduce as orders are satisfied.
- v2.1 · 2025-06-30 — Barred Tier 4 sources from contributing to any deduction.
- v2.0 · 2025-01-15 — Replaced the composite rating with seven independently published categories.