by Mike LaChance at legalinsurrection.com
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has advised state agencies and public universities to stop considering diversity in hiring practices.
Abbott said that these policies violate federal and state hiring laws.
The Texas Tribune reports:
Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies to stop considering diversity in hiring
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office is warning state agency and public university leaders this week that the use of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — policies that support groups who have been historically underrepresented or discriminated against — is illegal in hiring.
In a memo written Monday and obtained by The Texas Tribune, Abbott’s chief of staff Gardner Pate told agency leaders that using DEI policies violates federal and state employment laws, and hiring cannot be based on factors “other than merit.”
Pate said DEI initiatives illegally discriminate against certain demographic groups — though he did not specify which ones he was talking about.
“The innocuous sounding notion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others,” Pate wrote.