Tilbage i juni 2023 afgjorde den amerikanske højesteret, at Harvard University og University of North Carolinas optagelsesprogrammer, som overvejede race i optagelsesbeslutninger, overtrådte forfatnings- og borgerrettighedslove. Dette har udløst spekulationer om, hvordan afgørelsen kunne påvirke ansættelsesbeslutninger i virksomheder, skriver tre advokater i deres analyse af dommens betydning. Analysen er bragt i Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
Ifølge de tre advokater skal virksomheder forberede sig på, at dommen kan føre til søgsmål mod virksomheder: “Companies, and their management teams and boards, should be prepared for increased employment-related litigation including litigation that seeks to hold executive officers and directors personally liable for purported breaches of their fiduciary duties in connection with the corporation’s DEI policies.”
Forfatterne maner dog også til besindighed og understreger at topledelser stadig bør være opmærksom på risikoen for traditionelle diskriminationsanklager: “They (executives, red) simultaneously cannot ignore the pre-SFFA (and continuing) risks of regulatory enforcement actions and litigation alleging discrimination against employees from historically underrepresented minority groups or a corporation’s failure to effectively implement and oversee a DEI program and live up to DEI commitments.”
Forfatterne giver en række råd til, hvordan virksomheder bør manøvrere i forlængelse af dommen. De opfordrer blandt andet til:
- “Companies should remain aware of and account for the increasing number of shareholder proposals and proxy advisor and institutional investor guidelines demanding that companies strengthen their commitment to diversity.”
- “Institutional investors continue to prioritize diversity and listing exchanges continue to focus on it as well. Blackrock, for example, has stated that U.S. boards should aspire to 30% diversity of membership and encouraged boards to have at least two directors who identify as female and at least one who identifies as a member of an underrepresented group.”
- “Prepare for an impact on the hiring pipeline, including the likely decline in diversity of enrolled students at universities and colleges that may lead to less diversity in job applicant pools and fewer workers from groups that are historically underrepresented to fill vacancies and advance to leadership roles.”
