The Supreme Court just finished issuing its decisions of the term, rejecting President Joe Biden’s $400 billion plan to cancel or reduce federal student loan debts, issuing a major decision that impacts gay rights and lastly ending affirmative action.
As a result many will lose their jobs in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Departments. Four Black women have already been affected by the nation’s highest court’s ruling, in which Yvette Nicole Brown pointed out in an Instagram post.
Brown’s post featured Disney’s Chief Diversity Officer Latondra Newton, Netflix’s First Head of Inclusion Vernã Myers, Warner Bros. Discovery Diversity executive Karen Horne, and Film Academy’s Executive VP of Impact and Inclusion Jeanell English.
The post was followed with the caption, “In ONE day, FOUR talented, smart Black women lost their jobs in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion space. A day after #AffirmativeAction was gutted by the compromised and BOUGHT six GOP-chosen “Justices” #SupremeCourt #ThisIsAmerica.”
The court’s Thursday decision on affirmative action came despite mounting evidence that indicates that affirmative action programs have aided in increasing diversity in high education institutions and work places.
As for its impact in workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts it could be very detrimental.
DEI departments have helped to grow the representation of women and underrepresented racial groups among companies.
Many companies may now be less inclined to call out their racial and ethnic disparities in their talent pool, but without diversity workplaces could become less competitive or sustainable, Forbes reported.
A failure to hire employees from underrepresented racial groups will show in worplaces retention levels among these same groups. A 2021 report from Great Place to Work found that in companies that promote diversity and inclusion, employee retention rates are 5.4 times higher.
Affirmative action was set in place to address the historic marginalization that different racial groups have endured. Ending the long efforts to remedy and rectify this issue doesn’t mean the problem will go away, yet they will likely intensify over time. Decades-worth of progress that has been achieved since the civil rights era will go down the drain without mandates that require companies to ensure race is one of the factors considered when hiring.
Organizations that don’t address racial disparities in hiring may also be less likely to tackle these disparities in other workplace areas like promotion and advancement.
