Affirmative Action Cases Could Threaten Employer DEI Initiatives

Andrew Turnbull, Carrie Cohen, Michael Schulman, and Sadé Tidwell authored an article for Bloomberg Law reviewing how employers can respond to affirmative action rulings and state legislative efforts that could limit the scope of diversity initiatives.

“Rulings on college affirmative action programs don’t directly apply to workplace policies,” the authors wrote. “Instead, employer DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] and affirmative action programs are governed by Title VII and other federal and state employment anti-discrimination laws. Under these laws, using protected classes, such as race, to make employment decisions is generally unlawful, even if intended to increase diversity.”

They added: “However, the court’s decision could encourage challenges to workplace DEI and affirmative action programs and undermine some rationales used to support DEI initiatives and affirmative action measures in the workplace. As a result, employers should understand the differences between permissible and potentially unlawful DEI and affirmative action programs.”

Read the full article.

Reproduced with permission. Published May 15, 2023. Copyright 2023 Bloomberg Industry Group 800-372-1033. For further use please visit Bloomberg Industry Group Copyright and Usage Guidelines.