Kobach, Bailey threaten legal action against Fortune 100 companies using race in hiring
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and a coalition of Republican attorneys general in a letter Thursday threatened “serious legal consequences” against Fortune 100 companies that continue to consider race and diversity, equity and inclusion in their hiring practices.
Kobach and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led the letter, which was also signed by an additional 11 attorneys general, including Missouri’s Andrew Bailey. The letter references the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down affirmative action in universities to argue that any continued use of race based hiring would violate federal employment discrimination laws.
“We urge you to immediately cease any unlawful race-based quotas or preferences your company has adopted for its employment and contracting practices,” said the letter addressed to Fortune 100 CEOs. “If you choose not to do so, know that you will be held accountable—sooner rather than later—for your decision to continue treating people differently because of the color of their skin.”
The Fortune 100 are the top earning public and private companies in the U.S.
The letter pointed to specific practices at large companies to grant preferences to contractors with diverse staff or with minority leadership. The attorneys general criticized pledges by several major tech companies made to foster diversity and support Black-owned businesses during racial justice protests in 2020.
“Such overt and pervasive racial discrimination in the employment and contracting practices of Fortune 100 companies compels us to remind you of the obvious: Racial discrimination is both immoral and illegal,” the letter said.
The Republican attorneys general pledged to “enforce the law vigorously.”
In a release announcing the letter, Kobach invoked the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
“All Americans should be judged based on the content of their character, not the color of their skin,” Kobach said, borrowing language from King’s famous “I have a dream” speech.
The Democratic Attorneys General Association pushed back Friday on the GOP attorneys general’s claim that businesses could not weigh diversity in hiring decisions.
“To be clear: it is legal for businesses to be responsive to their workforce’s wishes and concerns through diversity programs and initiatives. Many business leaders have for decades been rightfully committed to supporting all of their employees and enriching their businesses as a result,” Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a joint statement as the Democratic group’s co-chairs.
“Above all, this Republican AG letter continues with their fanatical quest to neutralize thoughts, actions, and opinions of those who do not kowtow to their backwards philosophies,” Jennings and Ford said. “Republican AGs have spent much of the last several years interfering in the free market and with private businesses – a grave departure from their old posture.”
The Republican letter is a sign of additional fallout that could come from last month’s landmark Supreme Court decision on college admissions.
Following the decision, Bailey directed colleges in Missouri to stop any existing affirmative action policies. At the University of Missouri-Columbia this will mean removing race as a factor for graduate admissions and eliminating race-based scholarships.The university had already eliminated diversity statements from its hiring practices.
In Kansas, lawmakers included language in the state budget that would have limited universities’ ability to ask about diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring. Lawmakers failed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of the provision.
This story was originally published July 13, 2023 at 1:09 PM.
