Diversity Program Foes Turn to Civil War-Era Law in Court (1)
Several suits filed on behalf of White workers following the US Supreme Court s decision outlawing affirmative action in higher education are banking on a Civil War-era statute guaranteeing equal rights to Black Americans to challenge the legality of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The discrimination cases have been filed in recent weeks under Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, rather than the more traditional route, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They include a lawsuit filed Tuesday against Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC over the termination of a White male employee who claimed he was being replaced by a Black woman to comply with the firm s diversity objectives.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit founded by conservative activist Edward Blum, who brought the Supreme Court affirmative action challenges, has also filed three of its own Section 1981 cases. Two target diversity fellowships at law firms Perkins Coie LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP, and the other claims that an Atlanta-based venture capital fund engaged in explicit racial exclusion by providing grants and resources to Black women who run small businesses.
Use of Section 1981 for discrimination claims allows the plaintiffs to proceed more efficiently, as they can skip first filing charges with state or federal civil rights agencies. But the mostly male and White plaintiffs in these suits will face obstacles to bringing their bias claims under the statute when it comes to proving standing and meeting burdens of proof, employment attorneys said.