How To Run A Legally Compliant DEI Program

Highlights

• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued joint guidance on the types of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities they view as illegal. Employers may use the guidance to evaluate existing policies and practices.
• The guidance is based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The EEOC and DOJ have signaled that they will aggressively scrutinize DEI programs as part of their enforcement of Title VII.
• Practices that may present risk for employers based on the guidance include the following: 1) Using race or gender to determine access to or exclusion from training, including leadership-development programs; 2) mentorship and networking and affinity groups based on race, ethnicity or gender; and 3) using immutable characteristics in order to determine placement or exclusion from a