A recent decision by a federal appellate court serves as a stark reminder to all employers to carefully ensure that DEI-related policies do not run afoul of longstanding laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics, even where the characteristic is of a “majority” group (sometimes referred to as a “reverse-discrimination” claim).
In this most recent case, a white male filed a gender discrimination case against his employer, a well-known multinational manufacturer of consumer and professional products, after he was terminated and replaced with a white female. In support of his claim, the plaintiff pointed to an equity program his employer had in place at the time of his termination, a component of which had a goal to increase the number of women managers at the company in order to achieve its gender “representation targets.”
The plaintiff further cited to a press release previously issued by his employer announcing the company’s inclusion in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. In the press release, the company’s CEO was quoted as saying that she was “proud that women leaders make up 50% of [the company’s] executive team since it’s important we represent the diverse consumers we serve around the world, the majority of whom are women.”
The appellate court allowed the plaintiff’s case to proceed, stating that a jury could potentially find that the plaintiff was in fact unlawfully terminated.
Employers must be very careful to ensure that DEI programs do not run afoul of applicable laws and that any statements issued by company representatives are carefully reviewed to mitigate legal risk.