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Federal labor officials have decided to reverse their longtime policy and release diversity numbers for government contractors such as Oracle and Palantir Technologies in response to a lawsuit filed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Reveal submitted Freedom of Information Act requests for the workplace statistics of those and other tech companies as part of a project analyzing the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley. We requested the companies’ official EEO-1 reports, which show the race and gender numbers for total US employees grouped by broad job categories.
But five companies – Oracle, Palantir, Pandora Media, Gilead Sciences and Splunk – objected to the requests, claiming that the diversity data is a trade secret. In each case, the US Department of Labor initially agreed with the companies and denied Reveal’s FOIA requests.
[...] On Oct. 30, the Labor Department notified the five government contractors that it would disclose their diversity numbers over their objections. Citing the lawsuit, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs told the companies that it has “undertaken a supplemental review” and “will initiate disclosure.” The companies had until Nov. 19 to take legal action to stop the release of the data.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday November 26 2018, @10:48PM (3 children)
There are no mandatory diversity quotas in the US. [thedenverchannel.com]
Employers are allowed to voluntarily create their own, in some pretty limited circumstances, though.
As a self-proclaimed libertarian I would think you would support the right of a private employer to hire whoever they want.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Sulla on Monday November 26 2018, @11:25PM
To me it is more of pointing out the hypocrisy than it is telling them what they should do. Silicon valley takes it upon themselves to tell us how we should be doing everything differently, then does not do it themselves. While I disagree with a lot of the things that happen in California, I like that they can serve as a testing ground for the rest of the US. They can go full environmentalist and test out the various ways of making it work, and the rest of us can enjoy the benefits of adopting a finished working system. On the other hand we can take lessons from what California isn't able to do and assume that if the worlds 8th largest economy can't make something work then Oregon or Kentucky probably won't be able to do it either.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 27 2018, @04:46AM
No mandatory values, but companies accumulate diversity points for every person satisfying government preference categories. Multiple matches are possible. Hiring a black Brazilian woman will get you a point each for black race, Latino origin and female gender.
Having those points can help you deflect discrimination lawsuits, and provide evidence that your company is compliant with affirmative action rules.
(Score: 2) by Hawkwind on Tuesday November 27 2018, @05:26AM
Although there are no required quotas, they are also not allowed to create their own under CA prop 209.