Attorney General Marshall Issues Letter Demanding the Nation's Leading Companies Abandon Racially Discriminatory DEI Initiatives

April 16, 2025 - MONTGOMERY, AL – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a 15-state letter urging the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of the nation's leading companies, to abandon unlawful and racially discriminatory DEI initiatives. Many of the Roundtable's members have replaced free-market principles with costly and divisive DEI policies that cannot be squared with federal law. The letter argues that the Business Roundtable should prioritize its stated mission of fostering economic growth, job creation, and shareholder returns-not implementing racial quotas and mandatory ideological training. The letter criticizes the group's shift away from merit-based hiring and warns that such practices are "not only unworkable but also often illegal."

"The purpose of publicly traded companies is to drive job creation, fuel economic growth, and maximize returns for shareholders. If discriminatory DEI practices actually advanced those goals, companies wouldn't be retreating from them. However, we continue to see some corporations prioritize divisive ideology over their fiduciary duties, ultimately harming the very shareholders they're obligated to protect. Let's be clear: if your company is using racial preferences or quotas, that discriminatory path has been ruled unlawful by the U.S. Supreme Court," stated Attorney General Marshall.

The letter highlights that members of the Business Roundtable are beginning to recognize that the tide is turning and that these policies are a mistake. A corporation's purpose should be to prioritize shareholders and hire based on merit rather than protected characteristics.

The letter concludes the Business Roundtable must "abandon its redefinition and rededicate itself to merit-based hiring, which supports the actual purpose of a corporation and complies with employment laws. The Business Roundtable's member CEOs should immediately abandon quotas, targets, racial preferences, and other discriminatory DEI practices."

Joining Alabama in the letter, attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and South Dakota signed the Missouri–led letter.