Tyson Foods deleted dozens of diversity, equity, and inclusion related posts from its website after the election of President Donald Trump.
The Fair Agriculture Council, a nonpartisan watchdog that defends worker-friendly agriculture practices, conducted an analysis of Tyson Foods’s corporate website and found that it deleted over 30 posts related to DEI since November, when Trump won the 2024 presidential election and promised to combat DEI in American institutions.
The deleted posts were related to George Floyd, Martin Luther King Jr., Juneteenth, Black History Month, “Pride Month,” Hispanic Heritage Month, and Native American Heritage Month, the watchdog said in a new report. The Fair Agriculture Council claims it laid out Tyson Foods’s DEI policy in an initial report featuring the posts released at the start of May, and that Tyson Foods deleted the posts after its publication.
“National events prompted by tragic injustice have had far-reaching impact this year and prompted much needed conversation, change and action. Tyson Foods is among the organizations that have taken a hard look recently at how we may further enhance equity, inclusion and diversity in the workplace,” reads a September 2020 post on how Tyson is using grants to advance DEI.
“Executive leadership at Tyson Foods is committed to integrating equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the workplace, including our recruiting practices, training and education programs, and the benefits we offer team members.”
“As we reflect on Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re reminded of the incredible impact and contributions of the Hispanic community, and how we must continue to reimagine and strengthen the role we play in serving our team members, our communities, and the world,” reads an October 2021 post.
“As we look to the future, we’re excited to move forward as OneTyson, championing an environment of inclusion, equity, and diversity in the workplace and our communities.”
The Fair Agriculture Council’s report featured archived links to each of the deleted posts on Tyson’s “the feed” blog. Opening those links now brings up a “page not found” pop up on Tyson’s website.
The DEI-themed posts were published between 2019 and 2023, a time when DEI became commonplace in corporate America, particularly because of the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter riots sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
When reached for comment on DEI, Tyson Foods said it would continue updating its company policy in accordance with the legal environment, without going into specifics.
“We continue to review our company policies based on many considerations and make adjustments that will help support our teams and our business, in full accordance with the law,” a company spokesperson said.
The statement did not specifically address the deleted posts on DEI-related topics.
In walking back from DEI, several large companies have cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling barring race-based college admissions policies under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause. The political climate on a state and federal level, especially with the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign against DEI across American institutions. At the direction of President Trump, the administration has attempted to root DEI out of the federal government, federal contracting, federal grant programs, colleges and universities, and K-12 schools through executive orders and federal investigations.
The Fair Agriculture Council’s report argues that Tyson’s embrace of DEI was a cover for its alleged exploitation of workers, food safety issues, corruption scandals, animal abuse, and other allegations of corporate malfeasance.
The report lists some of Tyson’s DEI and LGBT initiatives including the creation of DEI-related executive roles, a DEI council that meets regularly, an extended moment of silence for the funeral of George Floyd, and a pledge to donate $5 million to left-wing social justice groups.
“Tyson doesn’t deserve credit for dropping DEI. It deserves scrutiny for why it went woke in the first place. Tyson’s DEI theater was never about values: it was a flimsy cover for a company that puts kids to work in slaughter plants, bankrupts farmers, and abuses animals by the billions,” the Fair Agriculture Council said in a statement.
“Tyson sells itself to working American families but offers them nothing but dangerous jobs, poverty wages, and polluted towns. This flip-flop is on brand; the only thing Tyson’s ever been consistent about is exploiting the people it pretends to serve.”
Tyson also conducted a racial bias audit, implemented racial bias trainings, hosted a summit for minority suppliers, and created internal company groups for employees based on various identity characteristics. Tysons has participated in the left-wing Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index measuring companies’s commitment to LGBT-friendly policies and promoted LGBT “pride” on its blog and social media accounts.
Progressive DEI programs typically emphasize race and other group characteristics instead of focusing on individual achievement and merit. Conservative critics of DEI believe it promotes illegal discrimination, and some populist opponents have also accused corporations of adopting DEI as a smokescreen for corporate abuses.
On immigration, Tyson Foods has supported reform measures and citizenship status for DREAMers, refugees, and farmworkers. The company has invested in legal services for its immigrant employees and attempted to recruit asylum seekers for its factory jobs, according to Bloomberg News.
In 2022, Tyson became part of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and committed to hiring 2,500 refugees over a three year period. Conservatives have criticized Tyson’s approach to hiring migrant workers because of the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border that occurred under former President Joe Biden.
Tyson strongly disputed the allegations contained in the report and said all of its employees are legally authorized to be working in its facilities.
“We strongly refute the baseless allegations made in the report that misrepresents our work and values. To be clear, everyone working in our facilities are legally authorized to do so, and the majority of those team members are American citizens or permanent residents of the United States,” the company spokesperson said.
“All positions at Tyson Foods are open to anyone who can legally work in the country with hiring decisions based solely on the qualifications, skills and capabilities needed to excel in any given role. As a recognized leader in protein we are proud to employ 120,000 team members in communities across the country and are committed to operating our business with integrity in full compliance with the law.”
Tyson Foods is facing a series of civil rights complaints from conservative group America First Legal over its alleged sex discrimination in hiring, alleged discrimination against American citizens in hiring, and alleged violations of Iowa laws related to child labor usage. AFL accused Tyson Foods of prioritizing illegal aliens and refugees in hiring, citing the company’s corporate reports, corporate partnerships, and news reporting.