Florida AG sues Starbucks over alleged discriminatory DEI practices
Florida Attorney General James Usmeyer filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Starbucks violates state civil rights law by using diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to make hiring decisions based on race.
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A federal agency that fights discrimination in the workplace is calling on white men to come forward with claims of bias.
“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination in the workplace based on race or gender? You may have a right to recover money under federal civil rights law,” Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas said on social media platform X this week. “The EEOC is committed to identifying, attacking, and eliminating all forms of racial and sex discrimination, including against white male employees and applicants.”
The social media call to action is the latest escalation in the EEOC’s efforts to identify discrimination claims that align with the Trump administration’s view that “illegal” and “woke” diversity, equity, and inclusion practices that permeate American workplaces are creating new inequalities rather than balancing historic inequalities.
This week, Vice President J.D. Vance described DEI as an “intentionally discriminatory program against primarily white men.”
He also promoted an online essay arguing that DEI policies are ruining the career prospects of some white male millennials. “This is a story full of illegal discrimination,” Lucas tweeted in response to the article.
The EEOC has emerged as a powerful tool for the Trump administration to roll back civil rights-era laws enacted decades ago to redress racial inequality.
When the president nominated Lucas to lead the EEOC, she promised to restore “equitable enforcement of employment and civil rights laws for all Americans,” including “racism and sex discrimination motivated by illegal DEI.”
“I intend to dispel the notion that only the ‘right kind’ of charging parties are welcome,” Lucas said in a statement after taking office.
Now that Lucas has a quorum (a minimum of three out of five commissioners), he can move aggressively to enforce White House priorities.
Is “reverse discrimination” on the rise?
White workers make up about two-thirds of the U.S. workforce, but their discrimination claims account for only about 10% of race-based claims, according to data obtained by USA TODAY from the EEOC in 2023.
This week, a money manager at Carl Icahn’s investment firm sued Bausch & Lomb and his employer, accusing him of denying him a board seat because he is white. This is the latest in a series of lawsuits alleging “reverse discrimination.”
Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal, tweeted: “This is a big change, and the federal civil rights office is clearly naming the problem of anti-white racism and calling on individuals to take action.”
DEI fights hiring bias, advocates say
Diversity advocates said the Trump administration’s comments deliberately distort the purpose of DEI.
“In my view, this is a set of practices aimed at eliminating bias and creating a fair and level playing field for people of all identities and backgrounds to have equal opportunities to achieve success,” said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at New York University School of Law and author of “How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America.”
“It’s really great to see people who are so passionate about the value of equality when it comes to white men also show the same passion when it comes to eradicating the inequalities that affect people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other marginalized groups,” he wrote in an email.
After the killing of George Floyd in 2020 sparked widespread protests, companies pledged to make their employees and leadership more reflective of the communities they serve.
Backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement was swift, with advocacy groups claiming white workers were being denied opportunities to help employers hire and promote more women and people of color to meet diversity goals.
America First Legal, co-founded by White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, has posted dozens of reverse discrimination complaints against top companies and posted on social media urging more white people to file legal claims.
President Trump confronts DEI over ‘anti-white’ racism
During his campaign, Donald Trump campaigned against DEI for fostering “anti-white sentiment,” and on his first day back in the White House, he sought to wipe out such efforts, including sweeping DEI from the federal government and military, threatening to strip billions of dollars in federal funding and university grants, and pressuring major corporations to scale back programs or risk losing federal contracts.
The broadside sent ripples across corporate America, accelerating efforts to reduce or eliminate DEI programs that could put companies in the president’s crosshairs. The rollback had a direct impact on the careers of Black Americans and the diversity of executive suites within large companies, according to a USA TODAY analysis.
“When you look at the current state of this country and see that white households have nine to 10 times more wealth than black households, that white men make up 74 percent of Fortune 50 CEOs, that 90 percent of law firm equity partners are white, that Congress is 72 percent male and 74 percent white, it’s a little hard to believe that white men are systematically disadvantaged in our society,” Glasgow said.
Black Americans outnumber white Americans in executive positions by a 12-to-1 margin, according to the latest data from USA TODAY.
At the same time, white men have risen to prominence in corporate boardrooms, eroding the gains made by women and people of color.
