America First Legal (AFL), a conservative nonprofit organization, has filed a federal civil rights complaint against The Walt Disney Company for “violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in illegal race, sex, and national origin discrimination,” according to a press release.
America First Legal Files Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against Disney
The complaint focuses on Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” diversity initiative, which AFL claims “strongly suggests that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin are often the only motivating factor in Disney’s hiring, training, and promotion decisions,” and that Disney is “intentionally discriminating against white American men, Christians, and Jews simply because of their race, sex, religion, and citizenship.”
The press release calls out Disney’s General Entertainment Content Inclusion Standards, which explains that 50 percent or more of on-screen representation, creative leadership, and below-the-line employees must be filled by members of underrepresented groups, with opportunities for industry access and career development also available for those individuals.
Elon Musk recently took to X to call these standards “mandatory racism and sexism.”
AFL claims that Disney’s self-reported workplace demographic data “shows that it is aggressively engaged in illegal race- and sex-based workforce balancing.” The nonprofit also makes mention of Disney’s “illegal” grant program which provides $25,000 to “underrepresented directors,” specifically to “women, AAPI, Black, Indigenous/Native, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, disability-identifying, and religiously marginalized individuals.”
Disney appears to be engaged in pervasive, far-reaching, and illegal race and sex discrimination in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Accordingly, we have filed a formal complaint with the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] that Disney is enaged in illegal conduct. It is sad and tragic that a company whose name was once synonymous with wholesome and charming childhood fantasies is now dedicated to spreading divisve bigotry. We urge Disney to cease and desist its unlawful and destructive conduct at once.
Stephen Miller, president of America First Legal
Read the formal complaint here.
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