Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioner Andrea Lucas responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that racial discrimination in college admissions is illegal by predicting that companies are going to get hit with lawsuits over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) measures.
Lucas made the remarks after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the race-based admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were both illegal.
“I think this is going to be a wake-up call for employers,” Lucas told Fox News’ “America Reports.” “Today is a time — the best time for lawyers to really take a look at the lawfulness of their corporate diversity programs. Even though many employers don’t use the word affirmative action, it’s rampant today, from ESG, to focuses on equity, pretty much everywhere, there’s a ton of pressure at the corporate 100 across corporate America to take race-conscious decision-making — race-conscious actions in employment law, and that’s been illegal and it’s still illegal.”
“I have noticed an increasing number of challenges to corporate DEI programs and I would expect that this decision is going to shine even more of a spotlight on how out of alignment some of those programs are,” she said. “And to be clear, I’m not criticizing all diversity programs, it really depends on how they’re structured. But to the extent that they’re explicitly or implicitly taking race into decision-making for employment decisions, race-restricted internships, race-restricted mentoring, race-focused promotion decisions, etc. There are a host of employment decisions. If you are using race as any factor in your decision-making, you’re already violating the law, and I expect that you are going to have a rising amount of challenges as this sort of raises that issue back to people’s attention.”
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WATCH: @andrealucasEEOC reacts to this morning's Supreme Court decision on affirmative action with @SandraSmithFox and what it may mean for employer hiring decisions and more. #AmericaReports pic.twitter.com/GXeBrT6PJX
— America Reports (@AmericaRpts) June 29, 2023