Ford joins Harley in scaling back DEI policies amid backlash

Ford Motor Co. told employees it would change its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and end participation in a prominent LGBTQ advocacy group, joining a host of companies including Lowe’s Cos. and Harley-Davidson Inc., in reducing some of the programs. .

“We recognize that our employees and customers have a wide range of beliefs,” Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley wrote in an internal email, which was provided to Bloomberg by anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck and confirmed as authentic by the company. “The external and legal environment related to political and social issues continues to evolve.”

Ford said it would no longer be involved with the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and various “best places to work” lists, and that it had refocused its employee resource groups and opened them up to all of its workers. The automaker also said it would change some of its corporate sponsorships and comment less on polarizing issues.

Starbuck, a former music video producer-turned-influencer based in Tennessee, has claimed credit for leading a string of companies to change or eliminate their diversity and social impact programs. Unlike legal activists Edward Blum and Stephen Miller’s America First Legal, who filed lawsuits and regulatory complaints alleging that DEI programs discriminated against certain groups, Starbuck relied on the social media platform X to generate popular outrage.

Tractor Supply Co., Deere & Co. and Harley-Davidson each said they would review their DEI initiatives after Starbuck’s began a stream of posts on social media platform X attacking what it describes as “woke” policies out of line with their customers. Ford’s Farley is on Harley’s board, and John May, Deere’s CEO, is a director for Ford.

Related: Lowe’s Drops Some DEI Policies As Activist Claims Another Victory

Starbuck took credit for the changes from Lowe’s, telling X that the company announced changes to its DEI policy after Starbuck contacted the home improvement retailer last week. Jack Daniel’s whiskey maker Brown-Forman Corp. also told staff last week it was ending DEI programs.

Starbuck said it was investigating Ford’s policies before the announcement. Ford declined to comment beyond the memo.

The letter marks a shift in tone at the automaker since the killing of George Floyd in 2020, when Chairman Bill Ford and then-CEO Jim Hackett pledged to “lead from the front and be fully committed to creating the right, just culture and inclusive that our employees. deserve.”

“This isn’t all we want, but it’s a great start,” Starbuck wrote on X. “Now we’re forcing billion-dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just for fear of being next company we are exhibiting. .”

Photo: Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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