A defense contractor choosing diversity quotas over merit:
IBM’s Red Hat SUED over culling 21 white men employees as CEO vowed to punish managers who missed DEI targets (Daily Mail)
A former sales chief is suing IBM’s Red Hat for being sacked alongside 20 other white men during the software subsidiary’s aggressive diversity push to hire more women and African Americans.
Allan Kingsley Wood, a white man, says he faced race and gender discrimination because of the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) scheme, which set hiring targets for women and minorities.
The case was filed by America First Legal (AFL), which is headed by former Trump administration official Stephen Miller, as part of a broader assault against DEI in businesses, colleges, and the military.
Miller’s conservative action group highlights a leaked video recording from 2021 in which IBM CEO Arvind Krishna vowed to punish executives who failed to meet diversity-hiring quotas. . . .
. . . . Red Hat hired a DEI tsar in 2021, when Black Lives Matter activists led protests over the police killing of George Floyd, and embarked on an aggressive diversity hiring push.
It introduced ‘quotas’ aiming ‘to remake its workforce demographic, seeking to reach 30 percent women globally and 30 percent associates of color in the United States by 2028,’ papers show.
Wood made it clear that he opposed the firm’s DEI policies due to his religious and political views.
He ‘advocated for hiring based on merit and skill rather than other immutable characteristics,’ the complaint says.
Two weeks later, Wood was told his job was being axed along with 21 other staffers. . . .
DOD and IBM:
In March, IBM was awarded a 10-year $576,000,000 million contract to support the Defense Microelectronics Activity and its Trusted Access Program Office. The Defense Microelectronics Activity is responsible for delivering critical products, services and expertise to support weapons systems readiness.
IBM Red Hat: “As the Department of Defense (DoD) moves to modernize its widespread resources, getting to mission capability faster is increasingly dependent on IT security. Red Hat has the open source technology and expertise to partner with the DoD to innovate with agility, standardize interoperability across all branches and agencies, and still maintain a high security protocol.” . . . . “Red Hat solutions support DoD operations. When each military branch brings its own expertise and technology to the battlefield, it’s necessary to integrate all critical data simultaneously across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains to effectively coordinate and control operations.”
What IBM’s $34B Red Hat Deal Means for Federal IT
Lockheed, IBM’s Red Hat team up to speed AI development for Pentagon
America First Legal Sues IBM Subsidiary “Red Hat” for Alleged Anti-White, Anti-Male Discrimination (America First Legal, 8 May 2024)
Today, America First Legal (AFL), with its co-counsel, including Robert Barnes, filed a lawsuit on behalf of its client against the International Business Machines Corporation’s (IBM) subsidiary, Red Hat, for violating Civil Rights laws by allegedly engaging in discriminatory employment and termination practices against white males.
AFL’s plaintiff is a white male and was a dutiful Red Hat employee for eight years, rising to the position of Senior Director. He was an exemplary employee who had never received a negative review during his time at Red Hat. But for the discrimination he faced, he was on the path to becoming one of the top executives at Red Hat.
In 2021, Red Hat began implementing illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements. In accordance with its illegal activities, Red Hat hired a Chief Executive Officer of DEI to spearhead these programs – mandating employee training while implementing employment quotas aimed at achieving diversity goals by illegally treating race as a dispositive factor for employment and advancement.
On several occasions, managers and executives at Red Hat commented to AFL’s plaintiff and other employees expressing their dismay at the lack of diversity in the workforce and their desire to achieve certain workforce quotas based on race and gender. Red Hat executives indicated that these DEI initiatives would influence certain hiring and employment decisions.
AFL’s plaintiff was vocal about his opposition to these discriminatory policies and continuously advocated for hiring based on merit and skill rather than other immutable characteristics.
Red Hat made express statements, both vocally and in writing at company events, that were derogatory towards white individuals and presented an anti-white agenda.
Red Hat also remarked on the low number of women employed and expressed anti-male rhetoric. Red Hat made it clear that it was going to implement heightened DEI policies, with the sole intent of increasing diversity.
At a kickoff event in Texas, Red Hat brazenly announced its “Bold DEI Goals,” which included quotas. Red Hat sought to remake its workforce demographic, seeking to reach 30% women globally and 30% associates of color in the United States by 2028.
Just two weeks after this announcement, AFL’s plaintiff was informed by his manager that his role was being eliminated following several months of discriminatory treatment. In fact, 21 of the total 22 individuals were white males.
This is not the first time IBM has been caught violating the Constitution and Civil Rights laws. Last year, James O’Keefe released a recording of IBM Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman Arvind Krishna promising to fire, demote, or deny bonuses to corporate executives who fail to meet the corporation’s racial, national origin, and sex-based hiring quotas or hire too many Asian individuals.
BREAKING LEAKED VIDEO: CEO of IBM @ArvindKrishna admits to using coercion to fire people and take away their bonuses unless they discriminate in the hiring process.
“You got to move both forward by a percentage that leads to a plus on your bonus,” Krishna said about hiring… pic.twitter.com/UUK26HX8IP
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) December 12, 2023
“BREAKING LEAKED VIDEO: CEO of IBM @ArvindKrishna admits to using coercion to fire people and take away their bonuses unless they discriminate in the hiring process.
“You got to move both forward by a percentage that leads to a plus on your bonus,” Krishna said about hiring Hispanics, “and by the way if you lose, you lose part of your bonus.”
After pulling ads from X for ‘racism,’ IBM chief Arvind Krishna says he will fire, demote or strip bonuses from execs who don’t hire enough blacks, Hispanics — or hire too many Asians.
“Asians are not an underrepresented minority in tech in America…I’m not going to finess this, for blacks we should try to get towards 13 percent,” says Krishna.
Paul Cormier, the chairman of Red Hat, a subsidiary of IBM, says in the leaked recording that Red Hat has terminated people because they weren’t willing to engage in racial discrimination through hiring and promotion.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race in the workplace. #IBMLeaks”
Following this shocking footage, AFL filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against IBM for alleged racial and sex discrimination. AFL also wrote to IBM’s Board of Directors, demanding an end to the corporation’s systemic violations of law to prevent the waste of corporate assets and harm to shareholders.
Today, AFL is proud to file this lawsuit to continue to fight corporate America’s destructive, illegal, and odious use of illegal DEI initiatives that are fundamentally anti-white, anti-male, and anti-equality.
Statement from America First Legal President Stephen Miller:
“Americans were shocked and horrified when a recording revealed IBM’s CEO openly discussing illegal race-based discrimination in IBM’s hiring practices — violating the rights of employees, the trust of consumers, the conscience of Americans, and the laws of the United States. Today, we are taking action on behalf of a courageous plaintiff against his former employer, filing a lawsuit in federal court to get justice for our client and to stop this flagrantly lawless and bigoted conduct. We are suing IBM to right egregious wrongs, fight corporate racism, and deliver accountability in the face of momentous injustice.” said Stephen Miller.
Read the lawsuit here.
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