Gannett Co Inc, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, is facing a lawsuit claiming its efforts to diversify newsrooms led to discrimination against white workers.
The proposed class action was filed in Virginia federal court on Friday by five current and former Gannett employees who say they were fired or passed over for promotions to make room for less-qualified women and minorities.
The plaintiffs say those decisions were driven by a policy announced in 2020 under which Gannett aims to have its newsrooms reflect the demographics of the communities they cover by 2025.
Gannett has also tied executive bonuses and promotions to success meeting the goals outlined in the policy, according to the lawsuit.
"Gannett executed their reverse race discrimination policy with a callous indifference towards civil rights laws or the welfare of the workers, and prospective workers, whose lives would be upended by it," the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.
Polly Grunfeld Sack, Virginia-based Gannett's chief legal counsel, said the company always seeks to recruit and retain the most qualified workers.
"We will vigorously defend our practice of ensuring equal opportunities for all our valued employees against this meritless lawsuit," Sack said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes amid growing backlash to increasingly prevalent corporate diversity policies. Unlike other pending cases brought by conservative groups, the claims against Gannett were filed directly by the company's employees.
The Washington Free Beacon reported last month that discriminatory fellowships and programs, which companies often establish on the basis of elite law firms' "civil rights" advice, are now prime targets for legal scrutiny since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in June.
These programs "are lawsuits waiting to happen," Noah Peters, the former solicitor of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, told the Free Beacon.