Republican AGs Target Microsoft and Others Following Affirmative Action Ruling

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent halt to Affirmative Action in college admissions, 13 Republican attorney generals have turned their sights towards corporate diversity programs, with tech giant Microsoft amongst their targets.

The Lead-Up

Tech industry titans such as Apple, Microsoft, and Uber are facing potential legal ramifications as Republican state prosecutors target their workforce diversity programs.

This comes in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, a tragic event that catalyzed these companies to publicly commit to enhancing diversity within their ranks.

Their ambitious commitments include plans to double the number of Black senior leaders by 2025, and similarly increase the number of Black and African American-owned suppliers they work with by 2023.

What are they asking for?

The Republican state attorneys general has said in the letter that diversity actions have set “racially discriminatory quotas and preferences,” as they add that explicitly race-based initiatives in the corporate world are similarly illegal to affirmative action in college admissions.

Last week, Skmettti and Kobach, known for their hard-line stances, sent a letter urging Microsoft and other Fortune 100 companies to reexamine their policies.

This came in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that found programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina allegedly violating the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

Their letter stated for Fortune 100 companies “to immediately cease any unlawful race-based quotas or preferences your company has adopted for its employment and contracting practices.”

What has the response been?

Legal experts have said that most companies, including Microsoft, will likely comply with the current law.

A group of 17 Democratic attorneys general sent their letter to the Fortune 100, asking companies to “double-down” on diversity-focused programs because there is still much more work to be done.

They condemned the GOP’s letter, saying it had a “tone of intimidation” that “purposefully seeks to undermine efforts to reduce racial inequities in corporate America.”

Alvin B Tillery Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University, told the BBC he worries “there will be a chilling effect because of this letter.” 

“Young people and people of color will punish companies who do not keep these programs in place, as will their employees, so this won’t be as easy as the college admissions case was,” he said.

According to The Washington Post, Microsoft declined to comment on the Republican attorney’s general letter but pointed to a 2020 blog post from Dev Stahlkopf, Corporate Vice President and General Counsel, responding to the Labor Department inquiry.

“We have every confidence that Microsoft’s diversity initiative complies fully with all US employment laws,” Stahlkopf said.

“We have decades of experience and know how to appropriately create opportunities for people without taking away opportunities from others.”