According to recent reports, the major wholesale retailer Costco is continuing to embrace a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda while many companies are pulling back on such woke initiatives. Many major companies, such as Walmart, Ford, and Harley Davidson have scrapped commitments to DEI-related causes as the corporate landscape appears to be distancing itself from left-wing social activism.
However, the Costco board of directors recently signaled to shareholders that they would continue the company’s commitment to DEI. The conservative think tank the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) recently suggested that shareholders vote later this month on whether the board should publish a risk assessment on maintaining DEI policies. The basis of the proposal from the think tank was the 2023 Supreme Court decision that banned affirmative action as a discriminatory practice that could have implications for DEI programs in corporate America.
“The renamed program still openly expresses a ‘commitment to equity’ (which means equality of outcome, not opportunity), still employs a ‘Chief Diversity Officer,’ still has a supplier diversity program that picks suppliers based on their race and sex, still appears to factor in race and sex in hiring and promotion, and still contributes shareholder money to organizations that advance the discriminatory agenda of DEI,” the proposal stated.
The think tank further explained that Costco could be subject to substantial legal liability. “With 310,000 employees, Costco likely has at least 200,000 employees who are potentially victims of this type of illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight. Even if only a fraction of those employees were to file suit, and only some of those prove successful, the cost to Costco could be tens of billions of dollars,” the proposal further stated.
However, the board unanimously rejected the proposal, maintaining its commitment to DEI. “Our Board has considered this proposal and believes that our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate,” the board responded. “We believe that our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are legally appropriate, and nothing in the proposal demonstrates otherwise.”
Furthermore, the board, which is led by Hamilton James, a billionaire Democratic donor, that DEI practices improve the company by attaining “a diverse group of employees [that] helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings”; and satisfy customers’ supposed desire to “see themselves reflected in the people in our warehouses.”
Director of the NCPPR’s Free Enterprise ProjectStefan Padfield, sounded off on Costco for continuing its commitment to what he described as a “neo-racist” DEI program. He went on to state that “Costco denied none of the evidence of racial discrimination at Costco we cite in our proposal.” Padfield added, “Costco apparently justifies its discrimination because, among other things, ‘a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings,'”
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The director noted, “One would be forgiven for concluding that this sounds like pure race essentialism. If originality and creativity are the goal, why not just hire the most creative and original people you can?” He added, “Costco accuses NCPPR of ‘inflicting burdens on companies with their challenges to long-standing diversity programs.’ However, the wave of customer backlash we’ve seen against DEI recently makes clear that it is DEI that is the problem. Rather than doing the right thing and evaluating the relevant risks as requested, Costco is apparently doubling down on divisive and value-destroying DEI.”
“DEI is the redistribution of opportunity — for employees, potential employees, and suppliers — on the basis of race and sex,” Ethan Peck, deputy director of the Free Enterprise Project, explained. “That’s not only immoral, it’s illegal and runs the risks of future litigation. It also comes with sacrificing merit — and therefore excellence and innovation, which the company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders to maximize to the best of its ability — at the altar of arbitrarily determined diversity.”
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