Despite the growing pressure for businesses to abandon DEI policies, many are defiantly standing firm against conservative activists.

BY BRUCE CRUMLEY @BRUCEC_INC

Photo: Getty Images

Even before President Donald Trump issued executive orders last week prohibiting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices by government agencies—and vowed to extend the ban to federal contractors—the ranks of companies dropping those policies under pressure from conservative groups continued to swell. But even as Trump seeks to take that anti-DEI fight into the private sector, many businesses are making it clear they won’t be knuckling under so easily.

While recent efforts by Costco are the most prominent instance of sticking with DEI policies and practices, the Seattle area-headquartered wholesale buying club is not alone. It promises to be a drawn-out fight.

As he promised during his campaign, Trump moved quickly to prohibit not just DEI programs operated by government agencies, but decades-old equal opportunity rules as well. Those efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in public and private workplaces have been attacked by conservatives for years. But those offensives have grown in intensity since a June 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned racial, gender, or other demographic considerations in college admissions procedures.........

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