Ford Rolls Back ‘Woke’ DEI Policies, Joins Growing List of US Companies

Ford Motor Company is rolling back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, becoming the latest U.S. company to push for “woke” policies this year and joining the likes of John Deere, Lowe’s and Tractor Supply.

Anti-woke activist and filmmaker Robbie Starbuck, who has been leading a campaign to expose the woke policies of big corporations, reported on X on Wednesday that he was in the middle of an investigation into Ford when the company sent him documents indicating it had made some changes.

Starbuck posted a letter from Ford CEO Jim Farley to employees, in which the CEO stated that “the external and legal environment regarding political and social issues continues to evolve,” and so in the past year, the company has taken a “fresh look” at our policies and practices.

In the letter, Farley laid out a series of points, telling Ford’s workforce that the company does not use quotas in hiring, and said it prioritizes its resources for business purposes “versus public comment on many of today’s polarizing issues.” Farley said the company has “developed” employee resource groups (ERGs), noting that all of its ERGs are open to all employees.

Lowe’s Ditches Some DEI Policies, Latest U.S. Company to Do So: Memo

Farley also informed employees that Ford had made the decision earlier this year to no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey and report used to measure “policies, practices and benefits related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) employees.”

Ford confirmed the authenticity of the letter to FOX Business when reached for comment, saying in a statement: “Communication with our global employees speaks for itself. We have nothing further to add.”

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), one of the nation’s largest and most progressive nonprofits, condemned Ford’s move in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.

“Today, Ford Motor Company abandoned its commitment to hundreds of thousands of employees by panicking in front of online troll Robbie Starbuck and suggesting that inclusion and other core values ​​are no longer a priority in the workplace,” said Kelly Robinson, president of the Human Rights Council, in a statement.

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“After decades of commitment to inclusion and top rankings on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and the IN Institute’s Disability Equality Index, as well as scholarships to fund a long history of philanthropy for Hispanic students, the Human Rights Campaign could not be more disappointed to see Ford Motor Company abdicate its responsibility to its employees, consumers, and shareholders,” Robinson added, in part.

The Human Rights Commission has issued similar condemnations of home improvement giant Lowe’s and Jack Daniel’s Brown-Forman Owner In recent days, after both of them decided to end their participation in the surveys.

HRC blames Starbuck’s for corporate abandonment of surveys, credits anti-woke activist

Celebrating Farley’s memo to Ford employees, Starbuck told his X followers, “So far you have helped me change company policy at Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, and now Ford.”

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“We are winning and we will restore sanity to corporate America one by one,” he added.

FOX Business’ Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.