America First Legal (AFL) announced Wednesday that they were suing Red Hat, a subsidiary of IBM, for allegedly violating civil rights laws by enacting racially discriminatory DEI policies, an AFL press statement read.
AFL maintains that their client, Allan Kingsley Wood, was a Senior Director at Red Hat from 2015 to 2023 who had terrific reviews and was “on a fast track to becoming an executive,” according to the lawsuit. He was then allegedly subject to discriminatory treatment and terminated by these illicit policies. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Air Force Slapped With Lawsuit After Claiming It Has No Records On Officer Diversity Quotas)
Wood, a white male, was a vocal critic of the company’s policies that sought to mandate workforce quotas based on race and gender, the press release observes. The lawsuit recalls an event in Texas where the company allegedly rolled out its “Bold DEI Goals” that wanted their workforce to be 30 percent female worldwide and 30 percent “associates of color in the United States by 2028.” Wood, prior to his termination, “never received a negative review, was highly lauded, had a stellar record” and was on a leadership path, the lawsuit claims.
Yet, even when he was employed by Red Hat he received discriminatory treatment, AFL alleges in the lawsuit. Wood sought and received approval for leave under Family Medical Leave Act on July 24, 2023 to tend to his wife who had taken ill, the lawsuit recalls. Red Hat, however, allegedly terminated this leave four days later even though Wood was entitled to 3 month leave in order “to proceed with his termination,” AFL alleges in the lawsuit. During this time, Wood’s medical coverage was allegedly suspended and he was forced to pay out of pocket to renew it.
“Today, we are taking action on behalf of a courageous plaintiff against his former employer, filing a lawsuit in federal court to get justice for our client and to stop this flagrantly lawless and bigoted conduct. We are suing IBM to right egregious wrongs, fight corporate racism, and deliver accountability in the face of momentous injustice,” Stephen Miller, the President of AFL, alleged in the press release.
This is not the only allegation that Red Hat was engaging in discriminatory practices. A whistleblower gave the O’Keefe Media Group alleged documents of the company’s “Allyship Commandments” in 2020 that codified 10 race-based commandments for its employees.
One rule was allegedly that “only WHITE people can be racist,” while another one was allegedly “never question the REALITY of our Black friends and colleagues.”
The IBM’s annual 2022 report allegedly emphasized that there existed a “a diversity modifier” whereby their executives are measured for their ability to implement DEI across the world and that “[i]n the U.S., executives are also measured on improvement of diversity and inclusion for U.S. underrepresented minorities,” AFL notes in a letter to IBM about the alleged violations. Paul Cormier, the CEO of Red Hat, was cited in the letter as allegedly saying that several “leaders” were “held accountable to the point that they’re no longer here at Red Hat” because they did not met corporate standards.
