Members of Congress call on companies to retain DEI programs as court cases grind on

NEW YORK– A group of Democrats in Congress on Tuesday called on the largest American companies to hold on diversity, equality and inclusivity programs, saying such efforts give everyone a fair chance to achieve the American dream.

The 49 members of the House of Representatives, led by U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, shared their views in an emailed letter to Fortune 1000 leaders. several large companies in recent months they said they would end or curtail their DEI initiatives.

“Inclusion is a core American value and a great business practice,” the lawmakers wrote. “By embracing this value, you create safer and fairer workplaces without sacrificing quality or financial success.”

A handful of American companies, including FordHarley Davidson, John Deere, Lowes and Molson Coors rolled back their DEI initiatives over the summer. The withdrawals came in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ban positive discrimination upon admission to university and beyond conservative activists were targeted the prominent American brands about their diversity policies and programs.

DEI policies are generally intended to counteract discriminatory practices. Critics claim that educational, government and corporate programs that single out participants based on factors such as race, gender and sexual orientation are unfair and everyone should have the same opportunities.

The opponents have had several legislative And legal victoriesand dozens more cases are working their way through the courts.

“These attempts to roll back rights are happening everywhere. They happen in the workplace. They happen in state legislatures,” Garcia told The Associated Press. “And it has to stop. And we need to push back and be vocal. We can’t just stand by and let this happen.”

The lawmakers’ letter says that more and more American consumers are spending their money with companies that advocate for inclusion and are unlikely to continue supporting companies that they see are backsliding on their promises to bring people together.

“Continued progress toward more equal policies and benefits reduces the risk that everyone—workers and consumers—will experience discrimination, bias, and other threats to their safety and well-being,” the letter said.

The letter follows the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announcing it has filed 110 lawsuits in the past year alleging employers sexually harassed teenagers, discriminated against employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and engaged in patterns of discrimination and violated the rules. Pregnant Employee Fairness Actamong other violations.

The lawsuits represent a small portion of the complaints filed with the EEOC. The agency received more than 81,000 workplace discrimination charges in fiscal year 2023, which was a 10% increase from 2022, EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said.

For each complaint, the EEOC notified the employer and initiated an investigation. Many allegations involved racial harassment or religious discrimination, Burrows said.

“Most people don’t even report internally, let alone to the federal government, if they experience discrimination, so unfortunately this is the tip of the iceberg,” Burrows told the AP.

She and other commissioners strongly support diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs “because in so many ways it is an antidote to the kinds of practices that lead to us having to go to court,” Burrows said.

Meanwhile, lawsuits alleging reverse discrimination may gain momentum. The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided that it would hear a lawsuit filed by Marlean Ames, who claims she was discriminated against in her job at the Ohio Department of Youth Services because she was straight.

“It’s a case that people expect will open the courthouse doors to more reverse discrimination lawsuits,” said Jason Schwartz, co-president of the union. & employment law practice group at Gibson Dunn.

Circuit courts disagree on whether reverse discrimination cases should be held to a higher standard. Some have held that if a person from a majority group files a discrimination case, he or she must show more evidence of discrimination than a person from a minority group filing a similar case.

“The Supreme Court’s interest in this case signals a potential for them to lower the bar,” Schwartz said. “We are already seeing a huge increase in these reverse discrimination cases.”

Groups like the American Alliance for Equal Rights have pushed back on affirmative action policies at universities and corporate diversity, equality and inclusion policies.

Recently it established itself in Atlanta Fearless Fund had to stop a grant competition for Black women business owners as part of a settlement with the American Alliance for Equal Rights, which argued that race-based programs should be open to all, regardless of race.

“There has been such an intense 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 the NYU School of Law. “But I sometimes worry that organizations are overcorrecting for that or worrying a little too much about that, to the detriment of the other side of the equation.”