McDonald's to end certain diversity practices following Supreme Court ruling

McDonalds is ending some of its diversity practices in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court affirmative action ruling. The rollback of some of the diversity practices comes after the brand and several others have faced scrutiny from conservative backlash.

The burger joint made the announcement on Monday in an email sent by higher-ups to the thousands of locations across the US. "As we start the New Year and set our ambitions for McDonald’s, we want to also update you on our accomplishments embedding inclusion throughout our system and highlight a few important changes to our approach," the statement read.

"'Inclusion' is one of our core values and in 2024 'we opened our doors' to hundreds of millions of customers and two million crew people from all walks of life, the statement continued. "Everyone is welcome under our Golden Arches, and this broad-based appeal is why McDonald’s is one of the world’s most beloved brands. We’re proud of our culture at McDonald’s, and we want to thank all of you for living our values."

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The statement went on to list various accomplishments made by the brand including "strong leadership diversity with over 30% of our U.S. leaders from underrepresented groups." The company went on to say that while they are proud of the various accomplishments, they want to continue serving customers at the highest level.

"We are immensely proud of these accomplishments, but we are not satisfied. Our commitment to inclusion requires ongoing focus, and following these successes the SLT has reflected on how best to continue our efforts," the letter read. "Following the Supreme Court ruling in STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, we also assessed the shifting legal landscape to anticipate how this ruling may impact corporations such as McDonald’s. And finally, we benchmarked our approach to other companies who are also re-evaluating their own programs."

According to the brand, McDonald's "position and our commitment to inclusion is steadfast." However, the fast-food chain stated that it planned to retire specific goals for achieving diversity at senior leadership levels.

It also intends to end a program that encourages its suppliers to develop diversity training and increase the number of minorities in their own leadership ranks. McDonald’s also said it will also pause “external surveys. The brand now joins several others such as Lowe's, Ford Motor Company, Walmart, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson who have declined to participate in an annual survey by the Human Rights Campaign that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees.

In its place, the brand has announced a new concept: the power of OUR “Golden Rule.” The brand says the rule is all about "treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect, always." The chain concluded, "We are proud of the work that we do at McDonald’s. We will continue to drive business results through all three legs of the McDonald’s stool, specifically with our people practices, by fueling economic impact and innovation through our robust supply chain and by building a franchisee pipeline that thrives in the communities we serve and fuels our growth."