Did the Supreme Court Just Kill Our Company’s Diversity Program?
For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court tentatively backed race-conscious admissions programs—often termed affirmative-action policies—at American colleges and universities. But in late June, just as it left for its own summer break, the Court effectively ended such practices, ruling (in a pair of linked?cases) that race-conscious admissions programs are themselves discriminatory. As the Court summarized, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”
Given those cases’ prominence, employers may reasonably ask, “How does that decision affect our company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) program?” The short answer is—it likely doesn’t. On June 29, the same day the Court issued its admissions-program ruling, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) chairperson Charlotte Burrows released a?statement?insisting that, from the EEOC’s perspective, the ruling “does not address employer efforts to foster diverse and inclusive workforces or to engage the talents of all qualified workers, regardless of their background.” More to the point, Burrows stressed that employers are still allowed “to implement diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs that seek to ensure workers of all backgrounds are afforded equal opportunity in the workplace.”
Practically speaking, your DE&I policies are likely safe. Employers remain free to charge forward will such initiatives, particularly when those initiatives articulate a commitment to inclusivity and nondiscrimination.