NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Congressional Democrats on Tuesday called on America’s largest companies to uphold their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying such efforts are a fair way for everyone to achieve the American Dream. He said that it provides a great opportunity.
Forty-nine members of Congress, led by California Representative Robert Garcia, shared their views in a letter emailed to Fortune 1000 leaders. The move comes after several major companies announced in recent months that they were ending or scaling back their DEI efforts.
“Inclusion is a core American value and good business practice,” the lawmakers wrote. “By embracing these values, we can create a safer and more equitable workplace without sacrificing quality or economic success.”
A handful of U.S. companies, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe’s, and Molson Coors, scaled back their DEI efforts over the summer. The withdrawal comes after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions and after conservative activists targeted prominent American brands over their diversity policies and programs.
DEI policies are typically intended as a countermeasure against discriminatory practices. Critics say education, government, and corporate programs that screen participants based on factors such as race, gender, and sexual orientation are unfair and that everyone should have the same opportunities. .
“They create a toxic environment. They divide people,” Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said of its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity.
Opponents have achieved several legislative and legal victories, and dozens more cases are pending in court.
“These efforts to roll back rights are happening everywhere. They’re happening in the workplace. They’re happening in statehouses,” Garcia told The Associated Press. “And it has to stop. And we have to push back and speak out. We can’t just sit back and let this happen.”
The lawmakers’ letter said more U.S. consumers are spending money on companies that promote inclusion and are less likely to continue supporting companies seen as setting back efforts to unite people. are.
“Continued progress toward more equitable policies and benefits reduces the risk of discrimination, bias, and other threats to safety and well-being for everyone, both employees and consumers,” the letter said. It is written in
The letter states that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the employer sexually harassed the teenager, discriminated against the worker on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, committed a series of discrimination practices, and violated pregnancy contraindications. This comes after the company announced that it had filed 110 lawsuits in the past year. Violation of the Labor Fairness Act, etc.
These lawsuits represent a small portion of the complaints filed with the EEOC. EEOC Commissioner Charlotte Burrows said the agency received more than 81,000 workplace discrimination complaints in fiscal year 2023, a 10% increase compared to 2022.
Each time a complaint occurred, the EEOC notified the employer and initiated an investigation. Many of the cases involved allegations of racial harassment and religious discrimination, Burrows said.
“Most people who experience discrimination don’t even report it internally, let alone to the federal government. Unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Burrows told The Associated Press.
Burrows said she and other commissioners strongly support diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, but that “in so many ways, it’s a challenge to the kinds of practices that end up having to go to court.” Because it is an antidote.”
The Manhattan Institute’s Shapiro counters that DEI programs have little to do with civil rights law.
“The backlash against this bill is not a backlash against anti-discrimination laws or anything that actually existed 10 years ago,” he said. “DEI is divisive. It views people and issues through the lens of identity, categorizes people based on privilege hierarchies and intersectional matrices, and is antithetical to a productive work environment.”
Meanwhile, lawsuits alleging reverse discrimination may gain momentum. The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided to hear the case of Marlene Ames, who claims she was discriminated against in her job at the Ohio Department of Youth Affairs because she is heterosexual.
“This is a case that people hope will open the court’s doors to further reverse discrimination lawsuits,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s labor and employment practice group.
Circuit courts are divided on whether to hold reverse discrimination cases to a higher standard. Some have ruled that a person from a majority group who brings a discrimination lawsuit must show more evidence of discrimination than a person from a minority group who brings a similar lawsuit.
“The Supreme Court’s interest in this case suggests that it may lower the bar,” Schwartz said. “We are already seeing a very significant increase in these reverse discrimination incidents.”
Groups such as the American Equal Rights Alliance oppose affirmative action policies in universities and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies implemented by corporations.
Recently, the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund announced that it would open a new program for black women business owners as part of a settlement with the Equal Rights Alliance of America, which argued that race-based programs should be open to everyone regardless of race. We had no choice but to cancel the grant contest.
“There is a lot of focus on all the risks that come from the anti-DEI side,” said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at New York University School of Law. “But I sometimes worry that organizations are over-correcting on that point, or worrying a little too much about it at the expense of the other side of the equation. ”
