AT&T promised the government it won’t pursue DEI

This step is followed in linear from verizon, T-Mobileand Skydance, comes as AT&T seeks FCC approval for a $23 billion acquisition of the broadband provider. Ecostar. Carr has threatened prosecutions and investigations into companies over DEI, and praised others for abandoning their practices.

“We have closely followed recent executive orders, Supreme Court rulings, and guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and have modified our employment and business practices,” the letter said.

AT&T said in the letter that it does not have and will not have a DEI team. DEI does not exist at AT&T, “not just in name but in substance,” and the company “does not have and will not have any roles focused on DEI.”

While the company echoed language used by the Trump administration, including “merit-based” and “deceptive DEI,” in its four-page letter, it does not appear as if AT&T is announcing new changes, including eliminating existing programs. Instead, she said, the programs “have been and will continue to be open to everyone, consistent with Title VII.” [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]”.

“AT&T’s reversal does not represent a sudden shift in values, but a strategic financial play to gain favor with the FCC/administration,” said Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democratic member. He said on X In response to the message. “Businesses must remember that giving up equity and inclusion for short-term gain will be a stain on their reputation long into the future.”

AT&T rebranded and industrialized its DEI programming in 2024 Changes Earlier this year, apparently after pressure from conservative activist Ruby Starbuck, including abandoning much of its support for the LGBTQ+ community and ending participation in external benchmarks.

However, AT&T still has some initiatives traditionally associated with DEI, such as employee resource groups (ERGs), which have been with the company for more than 50 years.

“Our letter reaffirms our longstanding practices of merit-based hiring and promotion, supporting an engaged workforce, and achieving our business goals of serving customers nationwide,” AT&T spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña told HR Brew in an email statement.

AT&T’s letter echoes promises Verizon made to Carr in May, including canceling most of its DEI programs, dissolving its DEI team, and suspending DEI training, HR Brew I mentioned previously.

At the time, David Glasgow, executive director of NYU’s Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and co-author of the soon-to-be-released book, said: How equality winsHe predicted that the federal government would not allow companies to simply change their branding.

“The less optimistic view is that this administration is on an absolute tear on this topic, and will continue to root out anything that has to do with promoting fairness and equal opportunity in the workplace, unless it’s just compliance with old-school discrimination law,” Glasgow told HR Brew.

Glasgow said it was not surprising that companies would change course based on government guidance. “Just the vague threat of an executive order tossing around the term ‘illegal DEI’ makes a lot of companies afraid to go through with it. So unfortunately, I think we’ll probably see more.”

This was the report Originally published by HR drink.