A thumbs up I really appreciate you guys coming from the Wall Street Journal the legal assault on corporate diversity efforts has begun conservative groups are challenging Amazon Comcast and using many of the same arguments that boosted minority representation in the workforce and it’s not just a couple of companies
It’s a lot of companies companies are responding from Bloomberg law employers downplay the D in Dei programs to avoid lawsuits from The Washington Post X Morgan Stanley executive alleges reverse discrimination in a lawsuit he said he was unfairly terminated in the interest of Morgan Stanley’s diversity and inclusion goals and the funny thing
About this guy is he was pushing diversity in his Department promoting people he had a leadership Diversity Program and then finally they were like look we kind of would like to replace you with someone who’s a person of color so going to have to take you out of that
Job and now he’s suing them because it affects him it’s his money it’s his career it’s not someone else who’s affected funny how it works that way California Community College professors Sue over de EI rules several California community college system professors are challenging a new rule requiring employees to be evaluated on their
Adoption of diversity equity and inclusion principles so what’s the issue there the issue is if you’re a professor and you’re not demonstrating how you’ve adopted diversity equity and inclusion principles in your work it will affect your job and your evaluation for pay being able to move up in the college and
Maybe get tenure it’s as if you were going to judge people based on some arbitrary way of saying well how American are you we don’t think you’re American enough to get a raise or to get an extra couple of days off ex-trump officials Sue Target alleging pride
Month investor risk and that comes from America First legal Steven Miller’s operation Steven Miller has done something also very clever because he’s been able to affect more than a couple of companies he’s got over 25 complaints with the equal employment opportunity commission their job a federal agency is
To enforce laws that make discrimination illegal in the workplace the commission oversees all types of work situations including hiring firing promotions harassment training wages and benefits so he through America First legal has filed more than 25 complaints against multiple gigantic companies who are obviously discriminatory Employment Practices the reason this is such a
Clever thing to do and a good thing to do is you can have Max Maximum Impact on these companies for the smallest amount of money spent to try to get results Additionally you don’t have to locate someone to sue the company that you’re suing on behalf of you don’t need a
Plaintiff you can just file a complaint with the federal agency and try to push them to follow up on it themselves because that really is their job and they are getting pushed also from Bloomberg law corporate diversity complaints place the EEOC in a thorny spot why is it a thorny spot because the
EEOC wants to push Dei even though it’s really not legal the way it’s done in many companies but now because of stepen Miller basically they’re forced to deal with this conservative legal activists successfully challenged the use of affirmative action by universities now they’re going after diversity initiatives widely deployed across
American companies some companies are already reconsidering their efforts in lawsuits shareholder letters and petitions to the equal employment opportunity commission activists are using some of the same tactics that Progressive groups have used to advance diversity equity and inclusion or Dei programs they are arguing that companies are violating rules against race and sex
Discrimination including those drawn from legislation designed to secure the rights of black Americans Comcast settled a case accusing it of illegally favoring minority-owned small business customers with grants and marketing advice Amazon has been sued in Texas over a program offering an extra $10,000 to black or latino-owned delivery
Service contractors and those races only everyone else is excluded Starbucks directors and executives are being sued by a shareholder arguing they violated their duty to investors by supporting diversity policies dozens of corporate law firms and major employers have received letters from Republican officials warning them to adhere to laws prohibiting racial quotas and
Preferences in employment and Contracting decisions Edward Blum who also organized the challenge that culminated in the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn affirmative action used a recently formed nonprofit group to sue Georgia investment manager Fearless fund charging that a grant program for startups is discriminatory Fearless makes early stage investments
In businesses run by women of color so the program was only offered to certain people of certain genders and certain skin colors companies say their initiatives fall within the law many say they remain committed to increasing the demographic diversity of their workforces and suppliers citing business benefits and the hurdles some groups
Continue to face in American corporations privately and in the real world of course many companies are asking their lawyers if and how much they should modify their methods in light of the affirmative action decision many of the legal efforts against corporate diversity programs predate the high Court’s June 29th decision that
Ruling centered squarely on higher education admissions didn’t address employment or business practices but it added momentum to an effort by conservative activists and public officials to change corporate diversity programs companies have long relied on rationals similar to those buttressing affirmative action at universities that there are benefits to diversity by
Dismissing that rationale the high court weakened the justification for other programs that promote it quote anything a company’s doing that is treating someone differently because of their race even if it’s a small part of the decisionmaking process is going to be scrutinized says dan lennington a former Wisconsin Deputy solicitor general and
Deputy counsel for Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty the legal group behind the Comcast lawsuit employment lawyers say it’s likely a matter of time before one of these cases reaches the Supreme Court some companies have decided they aren’t going to wait for the court to weigh in that is especially
True for programs that were quickly adopted after the May 2020 Death of George Floyd some Executives quote were UNC comfortable with Equity programs from the get-go referring to initiatives such as mentorship or training programs the Supreme Court has changed the risk calculation she said so she’s explaining
It’s a lot more risky if you’re going to discriminate based on race or gender even if you claim you’re doing it for what you think is a good reason companies are evaluating diversity programs in light of litigation threats that often seem designed to stoke public fear she has received inquiries on the
Subject from an association of Human Resources officers at large companies quote most of what the firms are doing for diversity is legal she said companies may need to be ready to defend themselves most of what they’re doing is legal she says How about if they just
Change things to go back to well what would make it legal and just do legal stuff you don’t have to go beyond legal even if you think it’s for a good reason or it makes you happy cable giant Comcast Limited a small business grant program to companies at least 51% owned
And operated by someone identified if Ying as black indigenous a person of color or female people the company said had been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic the Winsconsin Institute for Law and Liberty ensuing Comcast in April 2022 cited the 1866 Civil Rights Act One provision often
Referred to as section 1981 says all Americans should have the same rights to Sue and enforce contracts quote as is enjoyed by White Citizens the Wisconsin in Institute which says it supports litigation promoting quote individual initiative and ordered Liberty that leads to Prosperity essentially turn that section on its head by gathering
Several white male business owners as plaintiffs and that’s the difference with an EEOC complaint versus having to go and find a plaintiff or more than one plaintiff and get them to agree to Sue and then you’re going through a whole lawsuit process which will take a much
Longer amount of time to get some kind of a response the EEOC complaint process allows you to reach out and get to more companies more quickly because when you put the complaint in with the federal agency the EEOC you’re also sending a letter to the CEO and the board of
Directors and you’re making problems for these guys who aren’t following the law in mid-september when Comcast announced the next round of Grants it opened the program to all small businesses two months later Comcast settled the litigation in a news release about the program in May Comcast described the
Program as evolving quote from helping businesses survive the pandemic to helping businesses in their communities Thrive with a focus on economic growth a federal lawsuit against amazon.com filed outside Dallas in July 2022 also invokes the 1866 law it targets a program awarding an additional $10,000 to black Latino and Native American delivery
Service contractors to defray startup costs and only those identities only those races the lawsuit also criticizes an Amazon program aimed at helping blackowned businesses sell products on Amazon’s website again if you’re judging a company by the skin color of the person who owns it that’s unfair the plaintiff a Denton County Texas resident
Wants to apply to start an Amazon delivery service contractor but says she won’t until the company eliminates the assistance for minority contractors or offers whites and Asians the same benefit the complaint says the plaintiff can’t apply to become an Amazon delivery service partner without subjecting herself to raal discrimination the
Lawsuit says the case seeks class action status it was filed by attorneys including the general Council of America First legal and America First legal describes itself as combating quote an Unholy Alliance of corrupt special interests big Tech Titans the fake news media and liberal Washington politicians Amazon has moved to dismiss the lawsuit
Saying its selection process for delivery contractors is race neutral and that the plaintiff doesn’t have standing to sue because she hasn’t applied to be an Amazon contractor in court filings the company calls her complaint quote the epitome of an abstract and generalized grievance by a member of the general population about an internal
Corporate program that has no actual effect on her Amazon’s deed to comment on the lawsuit quote we believe in the importance of diversity equity and inclusion a spokesman said in a written statement we’ll investigate the potential impact of any legal decisions on our programs and adjust as necessary
To comply with the law here’s the workplace discrimination argument title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans workplace discrimination the recent affirmative action decision didn’t address Employment Practices directly but Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in a concurring opinion noted quote materially identical language on discrimination in the laws governing
Higher education and employment Starbucks officers and directors were sued in August 2022 by national Center for Public Policy research a conservative think tank that owns 56 shares in the coffee chain it accuses Starbucks of violating title 7 and section 1981 and the officials of breaching their fiduciary duty to
Shareholders by embracing policies it says violate anti-discrimination law in areas including employment supplier contracts and executive compensation under the policy Starbucks says it wants at least 30% of its us Workforce at all levels to be black indigenous or people of color by 2025 it plans to implement
An Analytics tool that lets managers see their progress and uses Workforce diversity measures to help set executive pay Starbucks and Company officials are seeking to dismiss the case they say ncpp hasn’t shown any real harm from the policies which are covered by a legal principle that gives company officials
Broad discretion in running their businesses and that courts have upheld diversity policies as permissible exceeding to the lawsuits demands would leave Starbucks vulnerable to other litigation they say well we remain committed to creating a culture of warmth and belonging where everyone is welcome a company spokesman said in
Court Starbucks and its officials also argue ncpp doesn’t represent shareholders who have rejected previous proxy proposals from the group suggesting Starbucks favors liberal or woke perspectives Coca-Cola is among the companies that has already backtracked in early 2021 then general counsel Bradley gon addressed a letter to
Outside law firms saying that 30% of new legal work for the soda giant should be performed by lawyers who are women LGBT disabled or members of racial and ethnic minority groups law firms had to report the demographic data to Coke which could cut their fees if the guidelines weren’t
Met gton stepped down from the role three months later yeah it is kind of a ridiculous request American Civil Rights project a nonprofit Law Firm that also represents ncpp V are in the Starbucks lawsuit threatened to sue coch officials on behalf of shareholders in a letter to
The company that June the group called the policies quote textbook violations of section 1981 in early 2022 Gaton successor Monica Howard Douglas wrote to the American Civil Rights project that while the company remained fully committed to advancing Dei in the legal profession she had contacted law firms
That tell them the guidelines were never company policy a chilling effect America First legal found Foundation the group backing the Texas lawsuit against Amazon has written to the equal employment opportunity commission urging the four current Commissioners to bypass the usual complaint process and open investigations into diversity practices
At a range of brandname companies when they say the usual process for complaints usually it’s an employee that complaints they are being harassed or they aren’t being treated fairly at their company however people in charge at EEOC can absolutely look into any issues that come to them from any other source so
They don’t need to sit and wait for an employee to complain and that is great because it allows America First legal to push these more than 25 companies to deal with their illegal policies I me these are ridiculous policies that have no business existing in the United
States of America Andrea Lucas who was nominated to the commission by President Trump declined to comment on the likelihood that she or other Commissioners would open investigations she said she sees quote significant legal and practical risk in many corporate diversity programs equal opportunity is our charge she said of
The agency’s mission but the law does not demand equal outcomes civil rights lawyers say conservative activists arguments distort the original purpose of laws designed to protect groups that historically have had fewer labor market opportunities or difficulty cracking corporate ceilings quote the intent here is more political gain and a chilling
Effect unfortunately it’s effective said Katie uker an attorney with the lawyers committee for civil rights under law which has been tracking challenges to corporate programs you would think if she’s involved with a committee of civil rights she would want everyone’s civil rights to be respected no matter how
Light or dark their skin color was in Florida a federal judge last year haltered enforcement of Provisions hb7 better known as the stop woke act which would have restricted private employers from conducting some diversity related training the judge said the measures violated company’s Free Speech rights Governor Ronda sanz’s Administration has
Appealed the decision the pressure leaves employers vulnerable to litigation for either going too far or not far enough in addressing barriers to equity and inclusion lawyers say they just need to focus on equality you can’t give Equity there’s no way to have enough power to make everyone’s situation equal unless you take
Everything away from everyone at the same time put everyone into absolute abject poverty give them no way to improve themselves give them no resources and then you can have Equity quote employers still have obligations to comply with civil rights statutes said Charles mclen senior council with the NAACP legal defense and educational
Fund rolling back Dei programs designed to expand workplace opportunities he added has the potential of creating a hostile environment for certain marginalized groups companies would still face exposure the truth is in the United States of America we have one set of laws for all of our citizens everyone
Needs to be treated the same way and be treated fairly they will decide as individuals supported by their families supported by their friend supported by their Network and driven by their faith and their passions what their future will be there is no way to have an equal result for everyone everyone has to
Decide what’s right for them use their god-given talents and achieve what they can achieve let me know what you think of all this in the comments below always love to see your ideas please be sure you are subscribed to the channel click the bell for notifications give me a
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