America First Legal Foundation (AFL), a conservative nonprofit, filed a federal civil rights complaint Tuesday against investment management giant BlackRock for allegedly racist hiring policies.
BlackRock’s summer internship and scholarship program “is designed for undergraduate or master’s students who self-identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native American, LGBTQ+ or disabled,” according to the firm’s website. The program, called BlackRock Founder’s Scholarship, allegedly discriminates against people who are not members of these specific groups, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to AFL’s complaint.
BlackRock has also committed to “increasing overall representation of Black and Latinx employees by 30% [and] to doubling the number of Black and Latinx senior leaders in the U.S,” according to its website.
AFL characterizes this as “racially balancing” and says it is “patently illegal,” whether BlackRock established the policies with positive intentions or not, according to AFL’s complaint.
“If BlackRock is not engaged in such conduct, but merely pretending to do so, then it is cynically and intentionally misleading consumers, workers, investors, and its ESG ‘stakeholders,’” the complaint reads.
AFL submitted the complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and requested an investigation into the firm’s hiring practices.
AFL also sent a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink demanding an investigation into the firm’s policies, and for the company to cease and desist discriminatory hiring practices Tuesday.
BlackRock did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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