


A group of more than a dozen Republican attorneys general sent a letter to the country’s biggest corporations warning of legal consequences over race-based employment preferences.
The letter, led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, was sent to Fortune 100 companies and emphasized the recent ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which effectively ended affirmative action in college admissions. Eleven other attorneys general signed the letter, which was sent on Thursday.
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The state officials told the corporations that discrimination laws could apply even if hiring and promotion practices fall in the bucket of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which have become popular in recent years.
The attorneys general contend that some efforts to secure more minority employees in the workplace equates to a form of discrimination because it could lead to hiring and promotion decisions based on race.
“Sadly, racial discrimination in employment and contracting is all too common among Fortune 100 companies and other large businesses. 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,” the letter reads.
“These discriminatory practices include, among other things, explicit racial quotas and preferences in hiring, recruiting, retention, promotion, and advancement,” the attorneys general added.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last month that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did not comply with the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection in their admissions processes. The plaintiffs argued such admissions practices wrongfully discriminated against Asian Americans at Harvard and Asian and white students at UNC.
Despite the case being about affirmative action at the college level, the attorneys general extrapolated that precedent to the companies in question.
“The Supreme Court’s recent decision should place every employer and contractor on notice of the illegality of racial quotas and race-based preferences in employment and contracting practices,” they wrote.
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The latest effort against corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion is tangential to a broader push from GOP state treasurers and attorneys general to combat corporate environmental, social, and governance practices.
For example, in May, Oklahoma’s treasurer announced that the state would stop doing business with more than a dozen financial firms over accusations that they “boycott” the energy industry. Several states have also divested from money manager BlackRock over some of its policies put in place to mitigate climate change.