Diversity, Equity & Inclusion pullback — ICANN explains
Organization stated it made changes to comply with EEOC guidelines.
In May, Kevin Murphy of Domain Incite noted that ICANN had removed references to the words “diversity” and “inclusion” on its website.
Shortly thereafter, the organization stated it was still committed to the concepts, even if the language had changed.
In a letter (pdf) sent yesterday, the organization further explained why it made the changes.
ICANN CEO Kurt Lindqvist wrote:
…While ICANN is a global organization, we are subject to US law, as well as the laws of other countries where we have employees. In this case, we acted under US law to remain consistent with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Its recently published EEOC Guideline expressly states that the EEOC “investigates and litigates against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.”
The Diversity at ICANN page included reference to employment practices and we believe it was necessary to modify the language on this page to comply with EEOC Guidelines…
He noted that ICANN has re-added a link to its Diversity & Inclusion toolkit, “which had been temporarily removed from the page to address community and staff feedback unrelated to any other website updates.”
While it’s easy to chastise ICANN over its decision, the United States is apparently now a place where the president can single out a single organization for retribution, potentially destroying or eliminating the organization.
