On July 3, 2023, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, barring US colleges and universities from considering an applicant’s race during the admissions process.
Stephen Miller, former Trump White House counsel and president of America First Legal, wasted no time threatening to sue colleges and universities if they did not comply.
At the time of the historic decision, many experts warned that the decision would reduce the diversity of college campuses and that it would set the stage for attacks on corporate DEI programs. Indeed, both of these predictions have come true. Many schools, including Amherst College and Tufts University to MIT and UNC, enrolled very few Black students. And conservatives, including Miller, have continued to file numerous lawsuits against so-called “woke” companies for DEI-related programs.
At Fast Company’s Innovation Festival panel last week, staff writer Pavithra Mohan explored this battle in the workplace “resurrection” fought by environmentalists like Miller.
“They are focused on private businesses,” said Neal Katyal, former acting attorney general. “It used to be the main Republican boss that businesses should be able to do what they want. But when businesses didn’t do what Stephen Miller wanted, he decided to sue them.”
Katyal, now a partner at Hogan Lovells, recently represented Hello Alice, an online platform for entrepreneurs, that was sued by Miller’s organization. Miller argued that Hello Alice’s handling of ten $25,000 grants to black-owned businesses, in partnership with insurance giant Progressive, amounted to racism.
“It was the shock of a lifetime to receive an email saying that we are being sued for programs that build the economy and create job opportunities,” said Elizabeth Gore, the founder and president of Hello Alice, who was also on the committee. . Gore emphasized that small businesses employ the majority of working Americans and that supporting small business owners is not a divisive topic in many local communities.
“We have Republicans, we have Democrats, and we have headquarters in Houston, Texas,” Gore said. “Most small businessmen support each other. They support diversity, and they want everyone to succeed, including, I would say, centrist Republicans. “
In May 2024, a Judge ruled against Miller in favor of Hello Alice.
But although Hello Alice may have won their case, this has not been the experience of other organizations facing such legal attacks. For example, Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based investment firm, was forced to close a grant program that awarded small businesses owned by black women as part of a settlement with Edward Blum’s civil rights activist group, the American Alliance. Equal Rights.
Mohan pointed out that many organizations, such as the Fearless Fund, do not have the money to deal with expensive lawsuits run by the likes of Blum and Miller. As a result, many have chosen to abandon their DEI-related efforts and avoid being targeted by such groups—or simply settle out of court.
“That’s the business model of Stephen Miller, who will go around the country, threatening to sue these small businesses or other organizations, and make them confiscate their weapons on their own. And business after business is doing that,” said Katyal. “Besides, it’s not just small businesses. I advise the biggest companies in the world on this matter, some of them have thrown in the towel because they are afraid.”
This intimidation tactic, Katyal suggested, is also part of the anti-DEI organization’s strategy to file class action lawsuits against new startups.
“Some of these types of Steven Miller attack companies where they know that the companies are at risk of financing,” he said. “It is possible that they are looking for a round of financing. They might want a home equity loan or something like that. And many lenders have rules like, you can’t have a class action lawsuit come against you if you’re looking for financing. So Stephen Miller writes all of these as class actions. “
Katyal continued, “So even though it’s a pseudo-class action—that would never, in a million years, meet the Supreme Court’s threshold for a valid class action—now they have to go to court and say it’s not a valid class action that takes years to reverse. And in the meantime, more damage is being done. “
The next goal of the anti-DEI movement, according to Katyal? Women.
“I am very concerned that the next wave of litigation will be about grants that seek to help women-owned businesses,” she said.
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