The conservative-majority Supreme Court is expected to strike down or severely restrict race-based college admissions programs in June. With it comes a ripple effect in corporate America, potentially upending diversity programs, which my colleague Trey Williams and I explore in Fortune’s upcoming June/July issue.
If the justices forbid educational institutions from using race as a factor in admissions decisions, it could “augur where the court might go with respect to certain programs for private employers,” says Kevin Cloutier, a partner at the Sheppard Mullin law firm’s labor, employment, and business trial practice group. Courts could rule affirmative action programs unconstitutional for federal contractors or be more receptive to reverse discrimination claims against private companies.
As a result, universities would almost certainly become less diverse over time, leaving companies with a more racially homogenous talent pool to recruit from and making it harder for them to make good on racial diversity commitments.
The decision could also encourage attacks on corporate diversity programs, as already evidenced by the conservative group America First Legal’s complaint, which requested a civil rights investigation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission into whether the BlackRock Founders Scholarship, an internship for minority students, discriminates against those from majority backgrounds.
DEI professionals who spoke to Fortune don’t believe it’s overblown to view the looming Supreme Court decision as a time bomb. “What we’re seeing is in a lot of ways a backlash to us being able to have made so much progress,” says Ericka Brownlee-Keller, DEI head at a renewable energy company. “We often talk about ‘When’s the other shoe gonna drop?’ A lot of this is people’s fears being realized.”
As companies brace for the SCOTUS decision, DEI professionals are devising actions for employers to consider, including:
- Reviewing diversity programs to ensure the company has a robust and evidenced-based case for such initiatives.
- Vetting public statements related to diversity initiatives.
- Creating new pathways for diverse recruitment, such as doubling down on partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities and sponsorship and mentorship programs.
- Asking what small and under-resourced DEI teams need to handle what may come in the ruling’s wake.
“That’s a lot. So this is the time to help your DEI team,” says Evelyn Carter, a social psychologist and president of the diversity and inclusion consulting firm Paradigm. “Ask your team what they need, and then deliver on it.”
Read the full article here.
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
