Representative Brandon Gill (R-TX) is taking another swing at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), now launching an investigation into a consulting group for allegedly promoting discriminatory hiring practices in the workplace.
In 2015, McKinsey & Company published several pro-DEI reports that Rep. Gill said proactively influence American companies and fiduciaries to make hiring and investment decisions based on “diversity.”
In a letter to McKinsey Global Managing Partner Robert Sternfels, Rep. Gill is demanding that McKinsey provide all documents and communications relating to its datasets, processes, procedures and academic review of the DEI reports.
“These reports allege strong links between companies with increased levels of racial and gender ‘diversity,’ emphasizing that increased diversity in companies causes a greater likelihood of improved financial performance,” Rep. Gill wrote.
Rep. Gill said these reports have become “highly influential” among trade companies, asset managers, proxy advisory firms, banking institutions and others. He argues these reports are “embedding illegal racial and sex-based targets” into workplace and hiring policies everywhere.
Rep. Gill cited one case in which the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) Investment Office used two McKinsey DEI reports to justify voting against three P.A.M. Transportation Services board members for failing to meet its board diversity standards.
“[This is one of] a few examples of the compelling influences of the McKinsey DEI reports and reflect the importance of establishing the reports’ integrity,” he wrote.
This letter is part of Rep. Gill’s larger investigation into what he describes as harmful DEI practices in American industries and institutions. As chair of the newly formed congressional Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, Rep. Gill has held several hearings focused on combating DEI policies.
Although McKinsey stands by its findings, Rep. Gill said researchers who assessed McKinsey’s DEI reports have not been able to replicate the results. Rep. Gill said McKinsey’s data is both “unverified and questionable.”
“Further, McKinsey has not publicly released its underlying datasets used to produce its DEI reports,” Rep. Gill wrote.
