Carrier JB Hunt Transport Services was no stranger to workplace discrimination lawsuits. In 2016, four Sikh drivers accused their employer of mistreating them because of their turbans. Six years later, an employee from Ghana claimed to have been unfairly dismissed because of his origins. But the complaint for racial discrimination, filed in January 2023, surprised more than one. This time, it’s Ryan Waters, a human resources executive, who says he was fired because he is a white man. Surprise ? Not quite.
Recently in the United States, several complaints against large groups have been brought before the courts claiming that Caucasian men would be victims of racial discrimination.
The complaints follow a 2023 Supreme Court decision regarding student admission to Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The majority of judges then ruled against the implementation of “Affirmative Action”, concluding that universities should no longer take into account the skin color of applicants, because this would disadvantage white students.
University admission requirements have of course nothing to do with management in private companies. But, with this first victory against Harvard, Edward Blum, founder of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, declared that his next targets would be companies and their “diversity and inclusion” programs, supposed to benefit racial minorities, women , disabled and LGBTQ employees.
Edward Blum and some allies, such as Stephen Miller, a former immigration advisor to Donald Trump, creator of the America First Legal association, rely on the fundamental rights protection laws of 1866 and 1964. The interpretation of these laws, a priori flying to the aid of the oppressed black, Latino or Asian, is diverted by Mr. Blum, who believes that today, the victim is white.
One step forward, two steps back
Three large law firms, Perkins Coie, Morrison & Foerster and Winston & Strawn, which offered scholarships to minority law school students found themselves in the dock. As are the Macy’s department stores, Pfizer laboratories, the Fearless venture capital fund, or even the Honeyfund in Florida, which lists wedding gifts.
However, when the judges examined promotion assistance for Pfizer’s Black, Latino and Native American employees, they noted that the opposing party had failed to provide ” no name “ victim of the program. Pfizer therefore won the case. But, out of an abundance of caution, the laboratory still changed its admission criteria into the program. That of race has disappeared, to avoid costly legal cases and bad publicity linked to this alleged discrimination in the future.
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