America First Legal (AFL) announced Wednesday that it will sue Red Hat, an IBM subsidiary, for violating civil rights laws by enacting racist DEI policies, according to an AFL press statement. Stated.
AFL claims its client, Alan Kingsley Wood, was a senior director at Red Hat from 2015 to 2023, was highly regarded and was “on a rapid trajectory to executive rank”. are doing. according to Lawsuit. It is alleged that he was subsequently subjected to discriminatory treatment due to these illegal policies and was fired. (Related: Exclusive: Air Force slaps lawsuit over alleging no records on officer diversity quotas)
Mr. Wood, a white man, was a vocal critic of the company’s policy of mandating employee quotas based on race and gender, the press release said. Observe. The lawsuit alleges that the company has set “bold DEI goals” of having 30% of its global workforce be women and 30% “people of color in the United States” by 2028. I remember what happened. The lawsuit alleges that Wood was on a leadership path with “never negative reviews, high praise, and an impressive track record” before being fired.
However, the AFL alleges in its lawsuit that he was subjected to discriminatory treatment even while employed by Red Hat. According to the complaint, Wood sought and received approval for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act on July 24, 2023, to care for his sick wife. But although Wood was entitled to three months’ leave “to proceed with his termination,” Red Hat terminated that leave four days later, the AFL alleges in the lawsuit. During this time, Wood’s medical insurance was reportedly suspended and he was forced to pay for his renewal out of pocket.
“Today, we are taking action on behalf of a courageous plaintiff against a former employer, filing a lawsuit in federal court to obtain justice for our client and stop this flagrantly lawless and bigoted act. We are suing IBM to correct gross wrongdoing, combat corporate racism, and hold accountable in the face of grave wrongdoing,” said AFL President Stephen Miller. claimed in a press release.
This is not the only allegation that Red Hat has engaged in discriminatory behavior. The whistleblower told O’Keefe Media Group that the company’sIn 2020, we established Allyship Commandments, codifying 10 race-based commandments for our employees.
One rule was said to have been, “Only white people can be racist,” and another was, “Never question the reality of your black friends or colleagues.”
IBM’s 2022 annual report is said to have highlighted the existence of “diversity qualifiers” for executives to evaluate their ability to implement DEI around the world.[i]In the U.S., officers are also evaluated for improving diversity and inclusion for underrepresented minorities in the U.S.AFL Note In a letter to IBM regarding the alleged violation, it stated: Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier said in the letter that several “leaders” have “responsible enough to no longer be at Red Hat” because they don’t meet company standards. ” he is reported to have said.
