American First Legal filed a federal lawsuit against Walt Disney Corporation and its subsidiaries for racial and religious discrimination on Wednesday. According to the organization, the multinational entertainment company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by intentionally failing to hire American, Jewish and Christian men, in violation of the company's proudly stated DEI policy.
The documents, which were recently leaked by Elon Musk, showed that the company was required to comply with a requirement that 50% of certain jobs be filled by members of "underrepresented groups." Those positions included regular and recurring actors, characters, general crew or staff on various projects, producers and editorial staff, and line producers and/or production department heads.
Disney's representation of "underrepresented groups"
The legal group used graphs to explain how Walt Disney Corporation has not complied with the percentages of representation of the aforementioned groups. The graphs show that between fiscal year 2020 and 2021, there was an increase in women and African American hires in virtually all these positions. However, one year later, there were 3% fewer white people in these positions. The company also hired 0.5% fewer African Americans.
That same year, Hispanic representation grew by 0.9% and "undisclosed" groups increased by 3.2%. According to the organization, this affected American men, Jews and Christians, who were not hired as much as other "underrepresented" groups. The president of American First Legal and former Trump administration official, Stephen Miller, called this "sad and tragic" in a press release:
Disney appears to be engaged in pervasive, far-reaching, and illegal race and sex discrimination in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Accordingly, we have filed a formal complaint with the EEOC that Disney is engaged in illegal conduct. It is sad and tragic that a company whose name was once synonymous with wholesome and charming childhood fantasies is now dedicated to spreading divisive bigotry. We urge Disney to cease and desist its unlawful and destructive conduct at once.
