Kellogg's 'woke' workplace diversity programmes are illegal, group claims

A conservative legal group on Wednesday (Aug 9) urged a US anti-discrimination agency to investigate Kellogg Co over workplace diversity policies that it says are unlawful, and accused the cereal maker of sexualising its products.

This is the second complaint filed this week against a company by America First Legal, a nonprofit run by Stephen Miller, who was an adviser to former President Donald Trump.

America First in a letter to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said Kellogg's hiring, training and promotion practises are designed to achieve a balance based on race and sex that violates the federal law banning workplace bias.

It also criticised marketing campaigns including boxes of Cheez-It crackers featuring drag queen RuPaul and cereal boxes celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month.

"Management has discarded the company's long-held family friendly marketing approach to politicise and sexualise its products," the group said.

The EEOC can sue companies if it finds that their employment practises amount to illegal discrimination.

Kellogg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many legal experts expect an uptick in legal challenges to corporate diversity programmes in the wake of a June US Supreme Court ruling barring race-conscious admissions policies in higher education.

America First in the letter said Kellogg, for example, has said it wants to have "25 per cent underrepresented talent at the management level" by 2025 and runs fellowship programmes that are only open to racial minorities.

"Kellogg’s employment practises are unlawfully based on 'equity,' which is a euphemism for illegal discrimination," Reed Rubenstein, a lawyer with the group, wrote in the letter.

America First said it also had sent a letter to Kellogg's board of directors on Wednesday threatening shareholder litigation if the company maintains the allegedly illegal policies.

The nonprofit on Tuesday sued Target Corp on behalf of an investor, saying the retailer failed to anticipate customer backlash over LGBTQ-themed merchandise that hurt its stock value.

The complaints are part of a campaign conservative legal groups and Republican legislators are waging against corporations that have enacted so-called woke policies on social issues such as race, gender and diversity.

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