How to Assess the New Legal Risks of Your DEI Policies; Harvard Business Review (HBR), February 27, 2025

Joan C. Williams, Laura J. Maechtlen and Jamie Dolkas, Harvard Business Review (HBR); How to Assess the New Legal Risks of Your DEI Policies

"With a series of executive orders, the Trump administration has put a target on corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. As of this writing, key portions have been enjoined by a federal court. Yet the administration has signaled its intention to make noncompliance so punitive that many companies still are scrambling to review their DEI programs and practices for EO compliance.

In the rush, two key facts are getting lost in the shuffle. The first is that core federal and state equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws have not changed. Trump’s executive orders did end federal contractor affirmative action programs, and Trump can direct federal employees to take certain actions against “illegal” DEI policies and programs. But what is “illegal” under core EEO laws today hasn’t changed from before President Trump took office. This highlights that what companies are concerned about is not entirely legal risk, but regulatory and litigation risk.

The second core fact is that companies have a First Amendment right to express their views on DEI. This right was affirmed in the spring of 2024 by a conservative-leaning panel of judges of the Eleventh Circuit, which struck down Florida’s prohibiting companies from expressing certain ideas in DEI trainings.

But with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s February 5th memo directing the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division “to investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector,” leaders are understandably and urgently looking for guidance on how to pursue their lawful, fair, and business-driven DEI initiatives."

From boycotts to ‘good-buys,’ consumers are showing support for DE; The Washington Post, February 28, 2025

 

Jaclyn Peiser

 and 

Taylor Telford

, The Washington Post; From boycotts to ‘good-buys,’ consumers are showing support for DEI

"Similar grassroots efforts are materializing across the country as brands such as Walmart, Meta and Google ratchet down diversity programs in the face of legal and political headwinds. Consumers are spearheading short-lived spending embargoes against companies that retreat from DEI, or “buycotts,” to reward minority-owned small businesses and brands that say they value diversity. Such efforts reflect some consumers’ heightened focus on conscientious spending, experts say, and a willingness to withhold their dollars from companies whose values clash with theirs.

Among the calls to action circulating on social media is Friday’s “economic blackout” organized by John Schwarz, founder of the People’s Union USA. The group, which bills itself as a nonpartisan, grassroots movement dedicated to economic resistance, is urging Americans to do zero spending for 24 hours to raise awareness about certain retailers’ positions on DEI and convey that many Americans are struggling while corporations are raking in big profits."

Northwestern Libraries’ website removes DEI mention as University responds to executive orders; The Daily Northwestern, February 23, 2025

Melody Xu, Assistant Campus Editor , The Daily Northwestern; Northwestern Libraries’ website removes DEI mention as University responds to executive orders

"Northwestern Libraries removed the mention of diversity on its website, following President Donald Trump’s executive orders against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives."