Corporate diversity challenges may follow affirmative action ruling

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June 30, 2023

Here's a quick look at today's top legal news.

Afternoon Docket writer Caitlin Tremblay is on a Reuters assignment and will return to the newsletter soon.

Affirmative action ruling could place target on US corporate diversity programs

REUTERS/Jim Bourg

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down race-conscious policies in college admissions includes some warnings to companies about the legal limits of workforce diversity efforts and is likely to fuel challenges to them, experts said.

The ruling has no direct impact on employers because it does not involve workplace bias laws. But in finding that Harvard University and the UNC unlawfully considered race as a factor in the admissions process, the court may have laid the groundwork for future challenges to corporate diversity initiatives.

Lawyers and experts say the court may be signaling that it would apply the same standard to companies' diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which have been criticized as creating preferences based on race or sex. Read more.

More top news:

A look back at SCOTUS this term

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The U.S. Supreme Court issued several important rulings this term. Here's a look back at some of them:

Student loans
The Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden's plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.
Affirmative Action
SCOTUS struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the UNC, effectively prohibiting affirmative action policies on American campuses.
LGBTQ+ rights
In a blow to LGBTQ+ rights, the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.
Religious rights
In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court bolstered the ability of employees to obtain accommodations at work for their religious practices.
Immigration
SCOTUS sided with the government in two immigration-related cases. The first gave the Biden administration the green light to move ahead with guidelines shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats. The second found that a federal law that makes it a crime for a person to encourage illegal immigration does not violate constitutional free speech protections.
Voting rights
The justices handed a major victory to Black voters who challenged a Republican-drawn electoral map in Alabama.

Read other major opinions from this term.

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Summer Friday

'Pizza' painting found in ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii

Pompeii Archaeological Park/via REUTERS

A fresco that depicts what might be an ancestor of the Italian pizza has been found on the wall of an house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. While it cannot technically be considered a pizza, since it lacks classic ingredients such as tomato and mozzarella, what was found in Pompeii "may be a distant relative of the modern dish," according to a statement. Read more.