America’s bosses grapple with threats to diversity policies

On junethAAERAAER 29 America’s Supreme Court ended 45 years of in university admissions. The decision did not change the laws that govern companies’ hiring and firing decisions. But it did put wind in the sails of those who think efforts by firms to increase the of their workforces have already stepped beyond the rules. Bosses and their lawyers have since scrambled to make sense of the judgment’s implications. One big law firm, Morrison Foerster, wrote a memo to clients after the ruling, counselling them to ensure their diversity policies do not create “unlawful preferences”.The firm is now alleged to have ignored its own advice. In August American Alliance for Equal Rights (), an organisation run by Edward Blum, the activist who brought affirmative action to the Supreme Court, sued Morrison Foerster. alleges that one of the firm’s programmes for law students, a highly prized fellowship open only to applicants from “underrepresented” groups, illegally discriminates on the basis of race. Days later the law firm broadened the requirements of its fellowship in online advertisements.