America First Legal (AFL) announced that Southwest Airlines Co. has agreed to cease certain employment practices following a complaint regarding alleged discriminatory actions. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) confirmed the airline's decision to abandon these practices after AFL filed a federal civil rights complaint.
The complaint, lodged on January 17, 2024, accused Southwest of breaching federal contracting laws by promoting "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) in ways that allegedly violated equal opportunity agreements. Since 2007, Southwest has received over $330 million in federal contracts.
On December 2, 2024, OFCCP conducted an informal compliance conference with Southwest under regulation 41 C.F.R. §60-1.24(c)(2). The investigation suggested violations of the equal opportunity clause and aimed to resolve them through this meeting. As a result, Southwest agreed to discontinue race and sex-based discrimination in its hiring and promotional processes.
Will Scolinos, counsel for America First Legal, commented: “On your next flight, would you rather be told that your pilot checks the right DEI boxes or that he was hired because he was the best of all competing candidates? Americans have had enough of corporations’ overt discrimination under the guise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It is unacceptable that corporations are so openly using everyday Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars to meet their unlawful race and sex quotas to achieve some ‘correct’ amount of diversity and representation. Discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics is always wrong. AFL will continue to fight against discrimination as a substitute for merit in employment decisions—it’s not going to fly,” said Will Scolinos.
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