Thirteen attorneys general signed a letter "to remind" Fortune 100 companies not to discriminate on the basis of race, even "under the label of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.'"
General Skrmetti co-lead a multistate coalition to raise awareness of laws prohibiting racially discriminatory employment and contracting practices with Fortune 100 companies. Read more: https://t.co/vix5MgB6ve pic.twitter.com/lPodaeXVp8
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) July 13, 2023
"Treating people differently because of the color of their skin, even for benign purposes, is unlawful and wrong," the prosecutors wrote in the letter, then cited the Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) recent decision against affirmative action on college campuses.
Last month, the United States Supreme Court handed down a significant decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, No. 20-1199 (U.S. June 29, 2023) (“SFFA”). In that case, the Supreme Court struck down Harvard’s and the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions policies and reaffirmed "the absolute equality of all citizens of the United States politically and civilly before their own laws."
The signatories pointed out that SCOTUS, in that ruling, clarified that discrimination on the basis of race is also illegal for private entities and for hiring employees.
In an inversion of the odious discriminatory practices of the distant past, today’s major companies adopt explicitly race-based initiatives which are similarly illegal.
A common practice
Racial quotas, preferences in hiring or promotion of employees and pressure on contractors to adopt diversity policies are some of the discriminatory practices that, according to attorneys general, Fortune 100 companies routinely engage in.
As an example, they cite Goldman Sachs. As reported by CNBC, the bank targeted 11% of its new entry-level analysts and associates to be black as well as 14% Hispanic.
Racial quotas and other explicitly race-based practices in recruitment, hiring, promotion, and/or contracting have also beenadopted by other major companies, such as Airbnb, Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel,Lyft, Microsoft, Netflix, Paypal, Snapchat, TikTok, Uber, and others.
More than just words
"Such race-based employment and contracting violates both state and federal law," the attorneys general insisted, vowing to move from words to action if necessary:
As the chief law enforcement officers of our
respective states we intend to enforce the law vigorously.
Following that warning, they urged the companies to "immediately cease any unlawful race-based quotas or preferences." Otherwise, they would "be held accountable—sooner rather than later".
Read the full letter
The 13 prosecutors who signed the letter are Kris W. Kobach (Kansas), Jonathan Skrmetti (Tennessee), Steve Marshall (Alabama), Tim Griffin (Arkansas), Todd Rokita (Indiana), Mike Hilgers (Nebraska), Brenna Bird (Iowa), Alan Wilson (South Carolina), Daniel Cameron (Kentucky), Patrick Morrisey (West Virginia), Lynn Fitch (Mississippi), Andrew Bailey (Missouri) and Austin Knudsen (Montana).
Misiva de fiscales generales a grandes empresas / Letter from Attorneys General to large companies by Santiago Adolfo Ospital on Scribd
