Hello! This week focuses on the institutions that are pushing back against U.S. President Donald Trump's war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Trump had issued a series of executive orders aimed at curbing , including a ban in January on federal contractors having them. The U.S. Department of Labor, Harvard, the NAACP and the State of Maine are a few examples of institutions that have been targeted by Trump's anti-DEI rhetoric and are fighting back. Let's start with the Department of Labor as U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago extended an earlier ruling barring the department from requiring contractors and grant recipients to cease DEI programs at the direction of President Trump. Also on my radar today: |
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Demonstrators rally, calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi |
'Maintain corporate diversity' |
Kennelly agreed with the Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit that provides job training to women, stating that a requirement for contractors to certify that they do not operate DEI programs is likely to violate their free-speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. He also barred the Labor Department from cutting off any grants to CWIT on the basis of a separate January order by Trump directing federal agencies to terminate "equity-related grants." The judge, however, declined to extend that ruling nationwide, as had been requested by the group. This comes as a group of former U.S. Department of Labor officials urged federal contractors to maintain their corporate diversity policies in the face of legal threats by the Trump administration, a letter, seen exclusively by Reuters showed. In an open letter to companies that hold federal government contracts, the ten signatories – whose tenures straddled the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations – said the Trump administration has no authority to forbid companies from running equal opportunity programs, adding that the government's actions on DEI were legally unsound. |
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This week, Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and said the university should apologize, a day after it rejected what it called unlawful demands to overhaul academic programs or lose federal grants. He did not say how he would do this. Under the U.S. tax code, most universities are exempt from federal income tax because they are deemed to be "operated exclusively" for public educational purposes. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government's latest escalation against the educational institution. Beginning with Columbia University, the Trump administration has criticised universities across the country over their handling of the pro-Palestinian student protest movement on campuses last year following the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza. Some professors and students have said the protests are being unfairly conflated with antisemitism as a pretext for an unconstitutional attack on academic freedoms. Princeton, Stanford and other universities have expressed solidarity with Harvard against the Trump administration. |
'Sanctioning discrimination' |
Elsewhere, the NAACP sued the U.S. Department of Education to stop its alleged illegal effort to cut off funding to schools that use DEI programs and prevent Black students from receiving equal education opportunities. In a complaint filed in Washington, D.C., the largest U.S. civil rights group faulted the Trump administration for targeting programs that offer "truthful, inclusive curricula," policies to give Black Americans equal access to selective education opportunities, and efforts to foster a sense of belonging and address racism. The NAACP said some schools have lost funding while others have canceled programs. It cited the Waterloo, Iowa, school district's withdrawal of first-grade students from the University of Northern Iowa's annual African American Read-In, which nearly 3,500 students at 73 schools attended. NAACP President Derrick Johnson accused the White House of "effectively sanctioning" discrimination that U.S. civil rights laws were designed to prevent. Here are a few more Reuters stories related to the action against Trump's anti-DEI policies: - US sues Maine over Trump executive order on transgender athletes - Law students sue US civil rights agency over crackdown on law-firm DEI policies - Judge blocks most of Trump order against Susman Godfrey, laments law firms 'capitulating' Please also note that Sustainable Switch Climate Focus will be on pause tomorrow for the Easter break but we will be back on Tuesday. |
Maya Forstater, Fiona McAnena and Helen Joyce for the For Women Scotland outside the Supreme Court in London, Britain. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska |
- UK trans rights: Britain's highest court ruled that only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under Britain's Equality Act. The decision confirms that single-sex services for women such as refuges, hospital wards and sports can exclude trans women. Transgender campaigners said the decision could lead to discrimination, especially over employment issues. Click here for the full report.
- Gender report: The annual Gender Balance Index by the London-based OMFIF think tank showed that the rise in the number of women holding top jobs at leading financial institutions has slowed over the last year and further progress is under threat as the United States and other countries roll back diversity drives.
- India ESG rules: India's market regulator is reviewing its ESG disclosure rules after concerns were raised by industry leaders over reporting requirements on environment, labour and other issues that it believes are onerous, a source familiar with the regulator told Reuters. The person declined to be identified as discussions are private. Click here for the exclusive report.
- UK Google case: Alphabet's Google is facing a class action lawsuit in Britain for potential damages of up to 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) over alleged anti-competitive practices. The claim, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of thousands of businesses, argues that Google's actions enabled it to charge higher prices for the advertisements that appear in search inquiries than it otherwise could in a competitive market.
- WHO agreement: Members of the World Health Organization reached a landmark legally binding agreement on future pandemics, widely seen as a victory for the global health agency at a time when multilateral organizations faced sharp cuts in U.S. foreign funding. The accord requires participating manufacturers to allocate a target of 20% of their real-time production of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to the WHO during a pandemic. A minimum 10% are donations and the rest is reserved at affordable prices.
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Amery Browne, Minister for Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs |
In keeping with the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, today's spotlight shines a light on the ongoing push for slavery reparations. "Enough talk, time for concrete results," said Hilary Brown, a representative of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, at the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent at a United Nations forum in New York. Brown added that it was time to step up actions to hold former colonial powers to account for past wrongs. CARICOM, an intergovernmental organization for the Caribbean Community, has a reparations plan, which, among other demands, calls for technology transfers and investments to tackle health crises and illiteracy. CARICOM and the African Union have joined forces in recent years on the fight for reparations, and Brown said that partnership put the movement at a "defining moment" as they can use one voice to demand action. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Jane Merriman. |
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