Is Your Company’s DEI Program Lawful?
The U.S. Supreme Court last week held racial preferences unlawful in college admissions. But executives of U.S. corporations should read Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard closely, because it will likely end up applying to them. Many companies have pushed racial preferences and quotas under the guise of “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies that run contrary to the justices’ warning against choosing “winners and losers based on the color of their skin.”
The problem is, like college admissions, work place hiring for most companies is a zero-sum game. If you selectively hire from one race, you’re discriminating against another. And while the Supreme Court ruling ruled Title VI doesn’t permit discrimination in college admissions, folks forgot that there is a Title VII that immediately follows which applies the same rules to any business with more than 15 employees.