As legal challenges mount, some companies retool diversity and inclusion programs

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Rufo, who has cast Gay’s appointment to the job as the culmination of diversity and inclusion efforts that have sidelined conservative voices in higher education, vowed on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, not to “stop until we have abolished DEI ideology from every institution in America.” Dozens of prominent companies have already been targeted, as well as a wide array of diversity initiatives, including fellowships, hiring goals, anti-bias training and contract programs for minority or women-owned businesses. Dan Lennington, an attorney with the Wisconsin Institute, said he considers Comcast’s changes “progress,” but the anti-affirmative action movement is looking for a broader victory that could change case law on workplace diversity programs, and the lawsuit against the DOT has that potential. “This decision just really injected new life into the whole debate.” A GRAY AREA ON HIRING Many of the lawsuits challenging diversity programs, including the cases against Pfizer and the Fearless Fund, are relying on a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which prohibits racial discrimination in contract agreements. He said it could be hard to prove discrimination just because a company “announced in a really broad way that it would be nice to have more people of color in management” but plaintiffs could try to argue that Diversity Equity and Inclusion policies are pressuring hiring managers to make race-based decisions.