EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas talks about employment law related to DEI practices on 'Fox & Friends'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Commissioner for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Andrea Lucas appeared on the February 3 episode of 'Fox & Friends' to clarify 'key points' in employment laws pertaining to diversity in the workplace.
Lucas had previously corrected billionaire business investor Mark Cuban over X (formerly Twitter) when the latter had posted that while he never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, or religion, they may be part of the equation to put his business in the best position to succeed. Diversity was viewed by him as a competitive advantage, he claimed.
I’ve never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, religion.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 28, 2024
I only ever hire the person that will put my business in the best position to succeed.
And yes, race and gender can be part of the equation. I view diversity as a competitive advantage
Now how would you… https://t.co/gxdtauMHtz
What are key points of misunderstanding in employment laws?
Many corporate leaders and cultural elites 'constantly misunderstand' two basic points of the US employment laws, according to Lucas, which she then proceeded to elaborate on.
"One, race and sex can't be part of the equation. If race and sex are any part of your decision, if it motivates at all, you are violating the law. Now people seem to think that as long as it is just a tipping point or a soft factor, it's okay. (However,) that is not the law."
"The second, there is a widespread belief that there is some form of good race discrimination, as long as it benefits certain protected racial groups or particular minority groups, or if it is designed for some general interest of diversity and/or equity," she continued. "That is also not the law. There is no good race discrimination, diversity discrimination is still unlawful."
Change in corporate settings is difficult to achieve
Co-host Will Cain claimed that multiple corporations are getting away with the very practice that the commission flagged as unlawful, and asked how they were doing so.
"I do see widespread admissions in many Diversity, Equity, and inclusion (DEI) reports that numerous companies post broadly for their investors for the general public to see, that contain indications that they are taking race preferential decisions or sex preferential decisions," acknowledged Lucas.
"But ... a lot of it is a matter of incentives. If people are not suing about it or filing a complaint or speaking up, it's difficult to change things," she added.
