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NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart's sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are revaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world's biggest retailer followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The risk associated with some of programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Trump's incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller , who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. “There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programs that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher the Human Capital Center at the Conference Board. “This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino,” he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index . Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the U.S. Department of Transportation over its use of a program that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organization says it has identified more than 60 programs in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. “We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches -- the U.S. Supreme Court, the Congress and the President -- are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualized treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups,” Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. “The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can’t be overstated,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. “Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they’ve got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It’s a virtually impossible dilemma,” Schwartz said. A recent survey by Pew Research Center showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52% in the November survey, compared to 56% in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associated at Pew called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won’t be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. “There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI," Glasgow said. "The only reason you don’t hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They’re putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention.” Glasgow advises organizations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. “It’s going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there’s a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing,” he said. One reason DEI programs exist is because without those programs, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. “Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic,” Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Last fiscal year, Walmart said it spent more than $13 billion on minority, women or veteran-owned good and service suppliers. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organizations that that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America's top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart's announcement. Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organization, said she hoped Walmart's need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company no longer has explicit dollar goals. “I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World,” Prince-Eason wrote. “Any retailer's ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart." Walmart's announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford , Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s and Tractor Supply . Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don’t feature sexual and transgender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, said companies that “abandon” their commitments workplace inclusion policies “are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders.” He said the buying power of LGBTQ customers is powerful and noted that the index will have “record participation” of more than 1,400 companies in 2025." Alexandra Olson And Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated PressThe London Lightning is in search of a seventh championship in franchise history and second straight in the newly formed Basketball Super League (BSL). Their new head coach Jerry Williams promises fans an exciting brand of basketball. “It's not going to be a 60 or 70-point game to where fans in the stands are bored,” said Williams, who is the seventh head coach in franchise history. “We're going to come out and put on a show. We're going to score a lot of points. We're going to play great defense and we're going to let them know, like we appreciate them being in the stands for us.” The season opener in Sudbury, they ruined the night for 3,000 fans with a 123-119 over the Five. London Lightning head coach Jerry Williams speaks to his team before practice on Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Fans and season ticket holders were excited to welcome them home for their first game at Canada Life Place (CLP) Thursday, but that game, along with two others on Nov. 29 and Dec. 3, were postponed. “The venue formerly known as the Budweiser Gardens has changed ticketing programs and the Lightning, for the first time ever, are really going to leverage the partnership differently by working with them,” said David Magley, president of the BSL. “The games didn’t get loaded and they weren't able to promote it. I don't know who whose reasoning that is, but it doesn't really matter. It just means that we have to make an adjustment.” When contacted Tuesday, CLP general manager Kelly Austin told CTV News, “It was not a Ticketmaster issue, and it was a joint decision with the Lightning to reschedule the games.” Fans enter Canada Life Place in London, Ont. prior to a London Knights game. (Source: TSN) “You’ve just got to move on,” said Williams. “We want the games to be this weekend, but it's not going to happen.” Whatever issue with the tickets has been resolved, as seats are now available for the new home opener on Dec. 8. “You've got, in my mind, one of the best venues (CLP) in North America for a league of our size that London plays in,” said Magley. “We have the absolute best program as well as fan bases over the years and the Lightning. If either one of them made a misstep, that's okay, because they haven't made many.” In year two, the BSL has increased from six teams to eight. Magley believes it will continue to increase in popularity and feels the franchises should double by year four. A ball goes through the hoop at London Lightning practice on Tuesday Nov. 26, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) “Next year probably 12 teams, and 16 teams the following year,” said Magley. “We'll probably have television that'll be stronger, and our live streaming will be better and it'll just be really good. But it just takes a little time to build that.” Back at Lightning practice, Williams is settling into his new surroundings in London. “I love it here, and I feel like this is my home,” said Williams, who won multiple championships in the ABA, and moved from Newfoundland where he coached last season. “I want to be here for the long term. Where I was at before you can't go out. You can't do certain things because people know who you are because it was small. But here you could go out, you could do your thing and, and the people are nice when they see you.” Shopping Trends The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us. 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Stay ConnectedThe Tennessee Titans face the Washington Commanders in Week 13, and they'll be tasked with stopping the running threat of an unexpected familiar face. Running back Jeremy McNichols is slated to get potentially the most run of the season on Sunday for Washington, as Brian Robinson Jr. is banged up and Austin Ekeler has been ruled out. If that name rings a bell, it's because McNichols is a former Titan. On the long list of former Titans to eventually play against (and potentially terrorize) Tennessee again, Jeremy McNichols isn't anywhere near the top. There's a decent chance you heard his name on a Sunday earlier this year when Washington was a surprise offensive juggernaut and you did a massive double take. I know I did. McNichols is in his 7th year, and is having his greatest impact to date in Washington. his previous stops include the 49ers, Colts, Jaguars, Titans, and then 49ers again before landing with the Commanders. Before this season, his only significant stretch of real football came in Tennessee in 2020 and 2021 helping to back up Derrick Henry in his prime. As a Titan, McNichols played in 30 games, tallying 360yds and a TD on 88 carries. In 2024 with Washington, he's found a new gear in the Kliff Kingsbury system. He's played the reverse RB3/special teamer role, stepping up whenever Robinson Jr. or Ekeler have gone down. He's averaging a career-high 4.9ypc, stacking 217 yards on 44 carries for 4TDs. Although he'll be playing higher than usual in the rotation against Tennessee in Week 13, the Titans run defense is a brutal assignment for any running back. The Titans run stop is ranked 8th in EPA/rush and total rushing yards allowed. This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.
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