Less than three weeks into his second term, President Trump has made it clear that his yearslong attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion is a core priority for his administration. Across a slew of executive orders, Trump has set his sights on dismantling DEI initiatives in the federal government and military—but he has also gone a step further and targeted the private sector.
Trump has revoked a critical executive order dating back to 1965, which addressed discriminatory hiring practices across federal contractors and was critical to promoting racial equity; in the same executive action, he also directed federal agencies to open investigations into private sector companies to snuff out DEI programs that “constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”
All this comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action sparked a wave of lawsuits from conservative activists, who have taken aim at DEI efforts across the public sector and private companies—leading some major employers to alter or roll back parts of their diversity programs. Several companies, among them Walmart and McDonald’s, have made notable changes to their DEI goals and stopped participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual survey that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees, while Meta will no longer have a dedicated DEI team.
But the wave of executive orders Trump has issued since taking office could pose a new threat to corporate DEI, whether or not they hold up to legal scrutiny. Employment lawyers like Aaron Goldstein worry that the vague language of Trump’s executive order targeting the private sector will push companies to take an extreme position on DEI. “We don’t know what the Trump administration is necessarily going to be going after, and we don’t really know what the consequences are,” he says. “When the government doesn’t tell you precisely what you can or cannot do, or the consequences for doing it, it makes rational people run for the hills.” READ MORE
by Pavithra Mohan
Source: fastcompany.com
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