Twenty civil rights groups sent a letter Thursday to Fortune 1000 companies calling on them to recommit to diversity, equity and inclusion after several major companies scaled back their efforts.
The call to action comes after business, including Passage, Supply of tractorsand Brown-Forman announced plans to change or completely shut down internal PPC initiatives.
“Abandoning PPC will have long-term consequences for business success,” write the authors of the letter. “Ultimately, fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders is avoided.”
“These short-sighted decisions make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans,” the letter adds.
A number of companies have scaled back their DEI efforts, which were boosted in 2020 after a national reckoning with racial injustice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. Legal experts saw the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision on affirmative action in higher education as a road map for targeting private companies that prioritize the diversity of employees, suppliers and consumers. While some right-wing activists have claimed credit for pressuring companies on social media to make the changes in recent weeks, several companies have said the changes have been in the works since March.
Agricultural retailer Tractor Supply started a trend specifically by cutting ties with LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, also known as HRC, which is among the letter’s signatories.
Several companies, including Molson Coors, Harley-DavidsonFord and Lowe’s everyone followed suit. They said they would no longer provide data to the nonprofit’s Corporate Equality Index, a traditionally respected barometer of how well companies respond to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
HRC President Kelley Robinson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Sept. 12 that there is a strong business case for diversity in the workplace.
“Consumers are twice as likely to want to buy from brands that support the community,” Robinson said. “This is the best thing to do for business, and that’s why I think we’re seeing so much energy from employees, from consumers and from shareholders that are starting to push for these decisions.”
He pointed out that LGBTQ+ consumers have $1.4 trillion in purchasing power, according to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Robinson called the move away from DEI “the wrong business decision.”
The HRC responded to companies withdrawing DEI commitments by reducing their Corporate Equality Index score by 25 points.
On a 100-point scale, this discount brings Brown-Forman, Lowe’s, Ford and Molson Coors from a perfect score of 100 to 75. Tractor Supply & John Deere drop from 95 to 70. And Harley-DavidsonCorporate Equality Index score drops from 45 to 20.
The companies cited in this article did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the letter to the Fortune 1000 companies, the civil rights groups argued that withdrawing from DEI not only hurts their standing with consumers, but also risks their ability to retain the most talented workforce.
“Businesses that do not include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people are neglecting their financial duty to hire and retain top talent,” the letter said.
“We call on business leaders to speak out, championing decades of business decisions to support inclusion.”
The full text of the letter and the list of signatories is below.
Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies and practices make business sense and are widely popular with the public, consumers and employees. But a small, well-funded and extreme group of right-wing activists is trying to pressure companies to abandon their DEI programs.
Recently, some CEOs caved and announced their company’s divestment from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
These capitulations weaken business and the broader American economy. And, these short-sighted decisions make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans. Meanwhile, this exposes businesses to legal risk by increasing the potential for bias and discrimination within organizations.
Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences for business success — ultimately avoiding fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to hire and retain top talent from across the talent pool and limit their company’s overall performance.
A survey of 1,039 companies with at least $15 billion in annual revenue found that companies in the top quartile for both gender and ethnic diversity are 12% more likely to outperform all other companies. There’s also a penalty for lagging diversity, which has gotten bigger over time. Companies in the bottom quartile of executive diversity in terms of gender and ethnicity underperform all other companies by 27%. (Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters, McKinsey & Company 2020 report)
Essentially, these decisions are not supported by your employees. According to a 2024 Edelman survey, 60% of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining employees — that’s 9 points higher than 2022. Additionally, according to Pew , only 16 percent of workers believe that focusing on DEI “is bad.”
Additionally, divestment from DEI will alienate various consumer segments, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. Women control about two-thirds of global consumer spending and are projected to control two-thirds of all consumer wealth within the next decade, with estimates ranging from $12 trillion to $40 trillion. Today, Black consumers have $1.7 trillion in purchasing power, and the LGBTQ+ community has $1.4 trillion in purchasing power.
Future-proofing businesses also means recognizing the growing diversity of consumers and workers. One in four GenZers are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, 5% are some other race or multiracial, and 30% are LGBTQ+ identified. Our nation’s disabled population continues to grow: recent CDC data showed that the number of adults with disabilities in the United States has increased, from 61 million in 2018 to 70 million in 2024, or more than 1 in 4 Americans (28.7 %). This enormous economic influence from populations often served by DEI programs is seen in a variety of sectors, from consumer goods to financial services, demonstrating that DEI is a critical driver of business.
Simply put, hastily abandoning efforts to ensure fair, safe and inclusive work environments is bad for business, unpopular and unwise. As business leaders who helped build DEI programs, you know it’s good work, and we have the evidence to show it.
Right now, we’re calling on business leaders and corporate board members to lead.
When the values of diversity, equality and inclusion are tested by politically motivated, anti-business forces, CEOs and corporate board members must stand up for them. To be clear, women workers, women of color, and workers with disabilities are not making political statements when they show up to work and demand equal policies, benefits, and treatment. By abandoning best-practice programs to support these workers, you’re not only capitulating to political forces and ignoring what’s good for your bottom line, you’re introducing risks of discrimination and bias to your employees and your company.
We welcome your cooperation and understand that the security risks posed by bad actors are serious — these are threats that affect us all. Backing away from long-standing commitments only serves to empower those who threaten your employees and customers. We call on business leaders to speak out, championing decades of business decisions to support inclusion. Your trusted voices together will future proof the business community against anti-business and politically motivated extremists.
- Advocates for Trans Equality
- American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD)
- Asian Americans Advocating for Justice – AAJC
- Asians Fight Injustice
- Change Color
- Family Equality
- JOY
- GLSEN
- Human Rights Campaign
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
- NAACP
- National Action Network
- National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
- National Organization of Women
- National Partnership for Women & Families
- National Urban League
- National Women’s Law Center
- PFLAG National
- SAGE
- UnidosUS
