What DEI policies, practices at Verizon will end?
US telecommunicatiosn company Verizon's deal to buy broadband provider Frontier Communications has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after the telecommunications firm made a commitment to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau approved the $20-billion acquisition last week, which will allow Verizon to update and expand Frontier's existing network in 25 states.
In its approval, the FCC said Verizon will ensure that its "discriminatory DEI policies" will end.
"Verizon has also committed to ending DEI-related practices as specified in the FCC's record and has reaffirmed the merged entity's commitment to equal opportunity and non-discrimination," the FCC said in a statement.
"This will ensure that the combined business will enact policies and practices consistent with the law and the public interest."
The approval came a day after Vandana Venkatesh, EVP Public Policy and Chief Legal Officer of Verizon, penned a letter to FCC chairman Brendan Carr saying it would end its DEI-related policies and practices "effective immediately."
"Verizon recognises that some DEI policies and practices could be associated with discrimination," Venkatesh said in the letter. "For that reason, Verizon reaffirms its commitment to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination and is modifying its practices and ending its DEI-related policies."
According to Venkatesh, Verizon will change its HR structure to remove teams or individual roles that are focused on DEI.
"The small number of employees who had roles and responsibilities that included DEI will now focus on HR talent objectives," she said.
The other changes include:
Verizon's Employee Resource Groups (ERG) will remain managed by its HR group, which will pre-approve any social and cultural events, according to Venkatesh.
"Verizon's ERGs will continue to remain open to all, regardless of race, gender or other demographic characteristics," she said.
"To the extent that Verizon maintains ERGs which are focused on demographic criteria or protected characteristics, it will not draw distinctions based on any protected characteristic in granting permission to groups and events."
Verizon adds to the growing number of organisations that are withdrawing their diversity and inclusion policies in the wake of a shifting legal landscape in the US surrounding DEI practices and policies.
The US Supreme Court in 2023 found that college admission policies at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) which included race as a factor were unconstitutional and unlawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
US President Donald Trump also ordered the termination of DEI programmes and policies in one of his first executive orders at the beginning of his second term.
"We recognise that the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion has changed," Venkatesh said. "The Supreme Court, the President's Executive Orders, and federal mandates require changes in the way companies approach DEI issues moving forward."
