The Latest From Yahoo, Meta, NASA, And More [April 2025]

DEI Under Fire is our monthly series that keeps you up-to-date on the latest DEI announcements and changes from the nation's leading companies.

This month, we discovered that Lego removed terms associated with diversity from its annual sustainability report despite adding more “diverse” characters to make its toys more inclusive. NASA fired Neela Rajendra, an Indian-origin official who served as the chief of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Yahoo removed multiple pages and other sections associated with DEI policies from its website.

Here are some of the latest changes we think you should know about. Remember to revisit this page throughout April for updates.

Companies are listed in alphabetical order.

Ally Financial

Right-wing nonprofit America First Legal dropped its lawsuit against Ally Financial after the bank’s public filings showed it had scaled back DEI. Banking Dive reported that the parties reached a settlement in the case filed on behalf of a previous Ally employee who alleged his manager was less experienced than he was but was hired due to race– or sex-based quotas.

A DEI section that had existed in the bank’s 2024 annual filing has also been removed, and its 2025 proxy statement has similar changes compared with its proxy statement in 2024.

Lego

Lego has removed terms related to diversity from its annual sustainability report despite recently adding “diverse” characters to make its toys more “inclusive.” Terms such as diversity, LGBTQ+, and people of color that appeared in Lego’s 2023 sustainability statement were not found in 2024. “Diversity and inclusion” were also mentioned in three places, such as the opening remarks by Lego’s chief executive, Niels Christiansen. Still, the phrase does not appear in the latest release, according to The Guardian.

Macy’s

A section on diversity was missing from its 10-K annual report, according to Bloomberg Law. One section previously highlighting its commitment to DEI said it “is guided by its values and starts from within to enhance diversity and inclusion across all levels of our organization.” The company did not provide a comment.

Mattel

Mattel removed terminology related to its DEI efforts and did not include board diversity data in two recent investor filings, as stated by Bloomberg Law.

Last year, the company’s proxy statement highlighted diversity, equity, and inclusion as one of its priorities. It detailed a strategy to “create positive impact through purposeful play and supporting diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. However, this wording was missing in its 2025 proxy statement, which the company sent to shareholders before its annual meeting on May 28.

Meta

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) announced that it will exit Meta’s external civil rights advisory group due to concerns about Meta’s content moderation and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) policy changes, according to The Guardian.

In January, Meta axed its fact-checking system, changed its content moderation programs, and ended its DEI programs. After making those changes, the LDF joined a coalition of other civil rights organizations that were part of Meta’s external civil rights advisory group to share dissatisfaction with the company’s decision.

NASA

NASA has fired Neela Rajendra, an Indian-origin official who served as the chief of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The space agency ended its diversity division in March following Trump’s executive order banning DEI programmes across all executive branch agencies.

According to the NY Post, Rajendra’s dismissal comes after a conservative outlet reported she ‘escaped’ the anti-DEI axe in 2024, when nearly 900 DEI employees were terminated.

Nordstrom

Bloomberg Law reported that Nordstrom removed some references to diversity from its report from the previous year. In that year, the company said it was “committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone, with an emphasis on creating fair and consistent practices and policies.”

Nordstorm did not provide a comment but called attention to a section of its report that says: “We have learned from generations of experience that building diverse teams representing all our customers is the most effective way to fulfill this purpose and grow a successful business.”

Yahoo

Yahoo has removed multiple pages and other sections associated with DEI policies from its website. TechCrunch learned that a part of Yahoo’s website that was previously dedicated to DEI no longer loads and instead redirects to the company’s executive leadership page. Additionally, a previous version of Yahoo’s leadership page from late 2024 promoted DEI, but that page does not exist on Yahoo’s current website.

Yahoo’s 2022 diversity report is dead and returns a “page not found” error. Open job roles on Yahoo’s career website still advertise a link to Yahoo’s former DEI page, however the page now redirects to Yahoo’s leadership page.

Image: pch.vector on Freepik