The EEOC stated that some firms' diversity practices might violate the US Civil Rights Act 1964. Under the legislation, an employer is prohibited from discriminating against an individual because of their race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. The commission said that employment policies by some firms may be unlawful if they are motivated by race, sex, or another protected characteristic, and emphasised that there are no “diversity” exceptions.
Andrea Lucas, the commission chair who penned the letters, said that they were “prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms”.
RollOnFriday contacted all of the 20 firms that were sent letters, but none of them responded with a comment. The firms under the spotlight for their DEI policies are A&O Shearman, Debevoise & Plimpton, Cooley, Freshfields, Goodwin Procter, Hogan Lovells, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, McDermott Will & Emery, Milbank, Morgan Lewis, Morrison & Foerster, Perkins Coie, Reed Smith, Ropes & Gray, Sidley Austin, Simpson Thacher, Skadden, White & Case, and WilmerHale.
However, it seems that around half of the above firms have amended or removed diversity wording on their websites, either just before or after they received the letters.
Hogan Lovells has deleted references to diversity and DEI on its website, to simply refer to ‘inclusion’ instead. And its diversity team has gone through a metamorphosis. Ruth Barnes has changed her job title from “head of global DEI programs” to “head of inclusion – EMEA”. Anna Kurian Shaw’s job description has been tweaked from “global managing partner for diversity, equity and inclusion”, to “global managing partner – inclusion”. While Rosevelie Marquez Morales’ job has morphed from “chief diversity officer – Americas” to “chief inclusion officer – Americas”, according to a report.
Other firms to have dropped the ‘d’ word from their sites include Skadden which has rebranded its diversity page to “Working at Skadden”. Latham & Watkins has also amended its page to simply: “Belong As You Are”. And Kirkland has opted for a page labelled as a “Welcoming Environment” instead.
WilmerHale, Morgan Lewis, Milbank and A&O Shearman have also made tweaks on their websites, either replacing the word “diversity” with “inclusion” and/or renaming their DEI pages. While Cooley has reportedly removed its DEI plan from its public website.
RollOnFriday understands that A&O Shearman, Skadden and Sidley Austin changed the wording on their websites, after they received the letters. However, it is understood that some of the other firms (such as Latham & Watkins and Morgan Lewis) changed the wording before they received the letters; although this might well have been a pre-emptive move to appease the US government, given that Trump made it clear that he was planning to crack down on diversity programmes.
And some firms that didn't receive the OOEC's letter have decided to make changes anyway. DLA Piper has recently removed its 'preferred pronouns' from the standard template for signature blocks in the US. Although, RollOnFriday understands that staff aren't barred from using them if they choose to do so, on an individual basis.
However, one of the recipients of the commission's letter, Freshfields, still has its five year diversity plan on its website (at the time of publication) which includes global targets for 2021 to 2026 to include that new partners “will be at least 40% women and 40% men (20% men, women or non-binary).” The firm did not respond as to whether it was keeping these targets in light of Trump's demands.
Meanwhile, Trump has also made orders and actions against three other firms.