Employers Downplay the ‘D’ in DEI Programs to Avoid Lawsuits (1)

Businesses defending their racial diversity and inclusion programs in court are cutting down their eligibility criteria’s references to minorities, a strategy that proved effective in prompting a conservative legal group to drop its discrimination case against Morrison & Foerster LLP.

Conservative activist Edward Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights dropped its lawsuit on Friday after the law firm eliminated the term “underrepresented groups” from its diversity program criteria. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, as well as Perkins Coie LLP, which is also facing a suit from Blum’s group, have made similar changes recently.

The strategy has also shown ...