ALPHABET'S Google, Meta Platforms and Apple are among nearly 70 companies filing a brief with the US Supreme Court in support of affirmative action programmes being challenged at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. (UNC).

The brief filed on Monday (Aug 1) argues corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts "depend on university admissions programmes that lead to graduates educated in racially and ethnically diverse environments."

By improving creativity, accuracy, and communication, diverse workplaces fuelled by diversity in higher education translate to better bottom-lines, the companies argue. The cases are the first on affirmative action to come before the justices since conservatives gained a 6-3 majority.

Roughly as many companies signed the amicus, or friend of the court, filing arguing affirmative action is a business imperative as in a 2003 case involving the University of Michigan Law School. Fewer joined similar efforts in 2 more recent cases involving the University of Texas at Austin.

This time, however, businesses risk inflaming a conservative backlash against companies taking progressive stances.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion advocates say it's still important for the business community to make its voice heard.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

"This is the perfect time for the corporate world to not just sit on the wayside," said Lael Chappell, the director of insurance distribution at Coalition, who works on diversity, equity and inclusion issues.

Changing Environment

In the latest cases, Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina, the plaintiffs say affirmative action not only hurts white applicants, but amounts to an "anti-Asian penalty," too.

UNC responds that race is only one of "dozens of factors" that the school "may consider as it brings together a class that is diverse along numerous dimensions-including geography, military status, and socioeconomic background."

The environment has changed considerably in the 6 years since the Supreme Court last ruled in an affirmative action case.

Shareholders are pushing companies to disclose racial and gender workforce data, said Heidi Welsh, executive director of Sustainable Investments Institute, an institutional investor research group. A new, separate push focuses on publishing racial justice commitments, she said.

Weighing in on politically controversial issues also carries new risks as stakeholders like employees and legislators press companies in different directions, The Conference Board research group warned in a May 2022 report.

Risks were evident this year when Walt Disney criticised a Florida law that limits what teachers and administrators can discuss with young students regarding sexual orientation after intense employee pressure.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said he viewed Disney's public comments against the law as "provocation," and vowed to "fight back." Weeks later, Florida lawmakers stripped the entertainment giant of is its decades-old special tax status.

More recently, Sidley Austin received a letter from a group of Texas state legislators threatening to sue and hold criminally liable the global law firm's partnership after announcing it would pay travel expenses for employees seeking abortions in states where they are outlawed. The Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June.

"There's so many moving pieces," Chappell said. "You hope for the best, of course. You want to see a world where these things are really appreciated for the impact they can truly have. But it's definitely a period of uncertainty." BLOOMBERG