“If your company previously resorted to racial preferences or naked quotas to offset its bigotry, that discriminatory path is now definitively closed,” according to the letter obtained by The Washington Post. The signatories were 13 Republican attorneys general, led by the chief legal officers in Kansas and Tennessee.
“If you choose not to do so, know that you will be held accountable — sooner rather than later — for your decision to continue treating people differently because of the color of their skin,” the letter continued. The ruling itself does not affect a company’s ability to take race into account when considering candidates, but legal experts have warned that the decision could impact how courts analyze legal challenges regarding recruiting, hiring and promotion. The ruling could put companies in a more tenuous position when it comes to such cases, and Thursday’s letter serves as a warning sign of how seriously some states may pursue action.
The ruling served as a double-whammy for the tech industry, which has historically struggled to hire a diverse workforce and was already losing