New York lawyer, Ben Stockman, tells HRNews how employers’ diversity efforts are risking ‘reverse discrimination’ lawsuits
Are employers’ efforts to improve diversity in the US risking potential lawsuits? The risk is a real one and it’s playing out in the courts across a number of states. We’ll hear from a New York lawyer on that, and how it links to the gathering and sharing of data by employers. If your business has a presence in the US, it’s an issue to be aware of.
As in the UK, employers in the states are striving to attract and retain talent and diversity and inclusion is a big factor. The Washington Post’s headline ‘Going deeper with diversity and inclusion’ talks about how US companies are striving to find ways to ensure their employees can be themselves and thrive. It makes the point that there is now ‘a greater expectation that companies are going to do something about it.’ And on the whole, businesses are responding.
In the US, the concept of ‘equity’ and ‘systemic racism’ has become highly politicised and caught up in ongoing debates about ‘Critical Race Theory’, a subject that has exploded in the public arena. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.
For businesses navigating this, it’s a potentially contentious issue which means rolling out D&I strategies across the business carries a risk. For example, in a...
Healthcare A New England nursing home group, its owner, and an executive agreed to pay $1 million to settle allegations first brought by a whistleblower that they billed Medicare and Medicaid for...