Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin led 14 states in directing a letter to the Business Roundtable, an association of some of the nation’s leading companies, urging them to abandon their unlawful and misguided DEI initiative. Many of the Roundtable’s members have replaced free-market principles with costly and racist DEI policies against the guidance of the Supreme Court.
“As Attorney General, I will ensure that corporate policies are focused on our state’s success and not ideological distractions,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The Business Roundtable has decided that racist DEI initiatives are more important than free market. I am fighting to protect working Americans and investors from these woke political trends and blatant racial discrimination.”
The Business Roundtable, made up of major company CEOs, should be focused on creating jobs for our citizens, promoting economic prosperity, and aiding investors. However, by adopting the social agenda of DEI practices and bowing to left-wing pressure groups, they are embracing pervasive and unlawful programs favoring certain racial groups, racially focused mandatory training, and racial percentage targets.
In the letter, Attorney General Bailey and the coalition state that “it should be clear that attempts to reorient corporate policy to appease progressive activists are not only unworkable, but they are also often illegal. Simply put, a corporation’s lawful purpose is to faithfully honor its fiduciary and contractual obligations to shareholders.”
The letter highlights that members of the Business Roundtable are beginning to recognize that these policies are a mistake and that the tide is starting to turn. A corporation’s true purpose should be to prioritize shareholders and hire based on merit rather than protected characteristics.
The attorneys general conclude, “It’s time for the Business Roundtable to abandon its redefinition and rededicate itself to merit-based hiring, which supports the actual purpose of a corporation and complies with employment laws. The Business Roundtable’s member CEOs should immediately abandon quotas, targets, racial preferences, and other discriminatory DEI practices. Or face the potential of legal action by state attorneys general.”
With this letter, Attorney General Bailey continues his fight to hold big corporations accountable for discriminatory practices. In June 2024, Attorney General Bailey filed suit against IBM for violating the Missouri Human Rights Act. More recently, in February, he filed suit against Starbucks to end its discriminatory patterns and practices.
Missouri was joined in signing the letter by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and South Dakota.
Original source can be found here.