Following an explosive leak of an internal video showing IBM CEO Arvind Krishna advising his managers to hire more minorities – and less white and asian workers, a whistleblower group has filed a Federal Civil Rights Complaint against the company.
America First Legal’s (AFL) Center for Legal Equality filed the complaint last week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after seeing the IBM CEO say he will fire, demote or strip bonuses from execs who don’t hire enough blacks, Hispanics — or hire too many Asians in the video, acquired by the O’Keefe Media Group.
Also in the same video, Paul Cormier, the chairman of RedHat (a subsidiary of IBM) seemed to reinforce these ideas, admitting that his company has already fired people who failed to meet these race-based hiring metrics.
America First Legal said making hiring decisions based on race is illegal, according to US EEOC laws. It is not clear how many employees IBM has terminated or discriminated against in the hiring process but the victims could collect $300,000 each from the company in compensatory damages. The company could also be facing millions in fines.
“The evidence strongly suggests IBM’s management has created a culture of systemic racism. IBM’s 2022 ESG Report includes information about IBM’s Annual Incentive Program, which vows to continue to include a diversity modifier to close the gap in executive representation in these key areas. IBM does so by providing executives additional compensation if they reach their targets.”
America First Legal complaint
The CEO’s comments came soon after the company pulled ads from X (the company formerly called Twitter), claiming that the platform promoted racist ads.
IBM, once a symbol of America’s worldwide leadership in tech, is now more of a services company that rarely produces innovative products. It currently has more employees in India than it does in the US.
During the hiring process in the US, most companies display language claiming they don’t make hiring decisions based on race, national origin, etc. but the video was proof positive that this practice is alive and well.
IBM wasn’t the only large corporation caught urging managers to hire certain minority groups. Sanofi executive Carole Huntsman was caught in a leaked video saying “one in Five Hires NEEDS to be a Black Employee”
Infosys has had numerous EEOC complaints filed against them. One recent complaint filed by a group of women said they “experienced a similar pattern of discrimination and marginalization in which male and Indian employees received preferential assignments and were routinely allowed to take credit for women’s work.”