Several banks declined to talk about how they expect the Supreme Court's ruling to impact their DEI programs.
"A lot of companies … have dedicated internship programs for minorities or diverse candidates to try to have a pipeline for hiring, and those will be scrutinized to see if they're purely race-based or open to anyone who has a compelling story as to why they will add diversity to the culture of the employer," Lander said. Some of those efforts, including internship programs, may now get a deeper look, Lander said. Others have made commitments to recruit more employees from historically Black colleges and universities.
Many banks have hired chief diversity officers or elevated such roles to the C-suite. The initiatives run the gamut from setting goals to increase the number of ethnically diverse members of senior leadership, which Truist Financial did in 2020, to tying senior executive pay to achieving certain diversity and inclusion metrics, as Wells Fargo has done. While some banks were already prioritizing diversity in their ranks, others stepped up efforts to attract, retain and promote people of color. That's especially true since the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, which sparked new conversations about racial inequity. In recent years, banks have become more intentional about creating workforce diversity and tracking their efforts in a more transparent way. Some initiatives may "not pass Title VII scrutiny, and they're going to be illegal." "I think the consequences of the opinion will be a lot more attention to diversity initiatives," Lander said.
While the ruling does not directly affect private employers - the use of affirmative action in employment is rarely legal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Law of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin - the implications may still be far-reaching, said Esther Lander, an attorney at the Akin law firm. Lenders may be reviewing their existing programs and thinking about how to restructure them in ways that don't violate the court's ruling but still achieve the same goals, according to the legal experts.
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