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The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has been hit with a lawsuit against its DEI initiatives, following suggestions that diverse hiring was partly to blame for the software update that crashed millions of computers around the world last week.
America First Legal (AFL), a conservative legal rights group, has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the company, for allegedly limiting, segregating, and classifying white and male employees for training and promotions in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The AFL has also sent a letter to CrowdStrike’s board of directors “to remind them of their fiduciary duties and liability for wasting corporate assets and destroying shareholder value in the name of progressive virtue signaling.”
DEI concerns raised after global tech chaos
The lawsuit was announced days after a glitched software update was sent out to more than eight million Microsoft devices across the globe, causing flights to be cancelled and seeing hospitals, pharmacies, police forces, banks, and all manner of businesses affected.
In the wake of the chaos, critics such as Elon Musk seemed to suggest that the software failures might have been exacerbated by CrowdStrike’s commitment to DEI and, in turn, neglecting what is the core of the tech industry - white males.
Musk took a swipe at CrowdStrike by responding to a tweet from 2022, in which the company proudly boasted about its ‘Gold Partner’ DEI accreditation from Bright Network.
Not very “bright” right now, is it?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 19, 2024
“Not very bright now, is it?” Musk jibed.
Now, AFL is also coming after CrowdStrike for its diversity drive, stating that by committing to “build a diverse workforce,” the firm is acting discriminatorily.
It bemoaned the number of employee resource groups dedicated to race, gender and sexuality, while not having any groups specifically for the needs of white and/or male colleagues.
Unlike Musk, however, the group did not suggest diversity was to blame for the global tech crash.
CrowdStrike 'favoring racial discrimination over true diversity', says AFL
In a statement, the AFL said: “The cybersecurity technology company openly states that ‘diversity’ includes ‘diversity of gender, race [and] ethnicity.’ Accordingly, CrowdStrike uses this definition of diversity to describe that it unlawfully considers gender, race, and ethnicity, among other factors, when evaluating nominees to its board of directors.”
The post went on: “In accordance with its DEI goals, CrowdStrike has nine employee resource groups to ‘provide’ training on diversity topics filled with implicit bias and also serve as ‘networking opportunities.’
“Yet these employee resource groups are solely based on race, sex, and sexual orientation. A few examples include: Women of CrowdStrike, Pride Team (LGBTQ), Team BELIEVE (Black employees), Communidad (Latina and Hispanic), and Embracing Equity.
“Notably, CrowdStrike does not have a resource group for ‘Men of CrowdStrike’ or one for white employees,” the AFL pointed out.
“By openly hiring to ‘build a diverse workforce,’ instituting race and sex-based development resource groups, and creating a ‘Board Diversity Matrix,’ CrowdStrike’s actions patently violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
Dan Epstein, America First Legal Vice President, said: “Crowdstrike’s DEI leader specifically referenced efforts to use race as a basis for advancement in employment.
“Such a statement, in combination with Crowdstrike’s demonstrated intent to use racial balancing in hiring as well as its own public financial disclosures emphasizing its values in favor of racial discrimination over the true diversity of thought and opinion, creates a substantial likelihood of unlawful activity.”
CrowdStrike has not yet commented on the AFL proceedings.
