Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is urging corporations to stop discriminatory DEI practices.
In a 15-state letter to the Business Roundtable, attorneys general joined against "racially discriminatory DEI initiatives."
The letter states the Business Roundtable must “abandon its redefinition and rededicate itself to merit-based hiring, which supports the actual purpose of a corporation and complies with employment laws."
Business Roundtable is an association of CEO's of the nation's largest companies.
"The Business Roundtable's member CEOs should immediately abandon quotas, targets, racial preferences, and other discriminatory DEI practices," the letter reads.
The attorneys general claim some policies do not follow federal law. Instead of focusing on DEI, they want corporations to focus on economic growth, job creation, and shareholder returns and to practice merit-based hiring.
“The purpose of publicly traded companies is to drive job creation, fuel economic growth, and maximize returns for shareholders," Marshall said. "If discriminatory DEI practices actually advanced those goals, companies wouldn’t be retreating from them. However, we continue to see some corporations prioritize divisive ideology over their fiduciary duties, ultimately harming the very shareholders they’re obligated to protect."
He continued, "Let’s be clear: if your company is using racial preferences or quotas, that discriminatory path has been ruled unlawful by the U.S. Supreme Court."
Other attorneys general signing the Missouri–led letter are from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota.
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