Balancing Act: The Two Sides of DEI

Tractor Supply Co. is caught in “woke wars”: Based on social media feedback from customers, the company walked back its DEI and environmental programs; but the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) is calling them out on it and is now calling for the resignation of the President and CEO of Tractor Supply after he failed to respond to attempted contacts. This resulted from a contribution from the Tractor Supply Foundation to the NBFA having been put on hold, while one to various veterans’ groups went forward. The president of the NBFA cites the loyalty of Black farmers – with its 130,000 members – to Tractor Supply, and their having been treated discriminatorily in return. DEI is becoming more controversial, so companies should be careful to communicate clearly the “whats” and “whys” of any such programs.

Speaking of DEI… 

An Illinois employee of Honeywell sued the company because he was terminated for failing to complete “mandatory unconscious bias training.” The employee essentially interpreted it as reverse discrimination and ignored repeated reminders to complete the training. When terminated, he sued for race discrimination. His action was held by trial court not to be protected activity, and the appeals court affirmed that ruling. The court ruled that because he failed even to access the training, he was not entitled to claim knowledge of any discriminatory content.