State Treasurers and Investors Urge Top US Companies to End DEI Initiatives, Labeling them as ‘Discriminatory’
State treasurers and financial officers from 17 states, along with 60 investors, have sent letters to leading US companies in the Fortune 1000, calling for an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. According to a report by The Daily Wire, the letters warned that DEI policies could violate companies’ fiduciary responsibilities and expose them to potential legal challenges.
Two letters were sent in response to recent appeals from some left-wing political figures encouraging companies to uphold DEI, citing that these policies foster a “culture of equality” which they claim helps companies remain competitive. The letters, citing polling data from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), highlighted that 40 percent of 3,000 employees surveyed viewed DEI programs as divisive rather than unifying.
“It is our considered judgment that DEI policies and practices threaten your company’s financial health, its reputation with customers, our nation’s economy, and the civil liberties of everyday Americans,” stated the letter, which also reminded companies that state treasurers are “responsible for state investment vehicles that hold ownership positions” in the companies.
“You have a fiduciary duty to your shareholders to avoid policies and practices that pose risk to firm performance. DEI programs are clearly such a risk,” the letter added.
Alliance Defending Freedom’s SVP of corporate engagement, Jeremy Tedesco, told The Daily Wire, “The divisive and discriminatory ideology at the root of DEI has caused some of our country’s most prominent companies, like Home Depot, Lowes, Ford, and Toyota, to pull back on their DEI programs.”
“We should celebrate that and call on other companies to follow their lead. Sadly, some members of Congress have instead responded by urging companies to reaffirm their DEI commitments. Businesses should listen to their employees, customers, and shareholders, rather than politicians, and jettison DEI once and for all,” he added.
The letters also cautioned that companies embracing DEI policies may be at legal risk, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against race-based criteria in college admissions. This ruling, according to the letter, could have implications for DEI programs across corporations.
“EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas and others have stated that this ruling calls into question many company’s DEI programs,” the letter claimed. “DEI programs are rooted in Ibram X. Kendi’s disturbing outlook that ‘the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination,’” which could potentially contradict law.
The letters went on to criticize DEI as punishing dissent and reducing diversity of thought, claiming it enforces a “monolithic approach to workplace culture” based on group identity.
Officials from Arizona, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah were among the signatories urging companies to reconsider their DEI practices.
