Dan Morenoff, Author at American Civil Rights Project

Open Letter for Shareholder to Officers and Directors of Levi Strauss & Co.

Today, on behalf of a concerned Levi's shareholder, the ACR Project demanded that the company publicly retract its illegal, discriminatory training policies. Levi's has chosen to make available to its employees training programs defined by the immutable characteristics of participants (excluding all employees from participation unless they are of -- respectively -- the right race, ethnicity, or sex). But an employer discriminating in the training it makes available based on race, national origin, and sex violates longstanding federal and state laws.

Dan Morenoff2024-03-08T08:47:57-06:00September 19th, 2022|Blog, Submissions|

Open Letter for Shareholders to Officers and Directors of Pfizer, Inc.

Today, on behalf of concerned Pfizer shareholders, the ACR Project demanded that the company publicly retract a set of illegal, discriminatory policies. Those policies inject race, ethnicity, and sex into every level of Pfizer's hiring and promotions, ranging from its summer internships to its top executives and directors. These policies -- admitted on Pfizer's webpage -- violate state and federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and a host of state laws, including those of New York (where Pfizer headquarters) and Delaware (where it incorporated).

Dan Morenoff2024-03-08T08:48:23-06:00September 19th, 2022|Blog, Submissions|

Break Up the ESG Investing Giants

Three of the largest investment shops in the U.S.—BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street—have long used their dominance in passive-investment funds to force corporations to comply with their preferred set of environmental, social and governance policies. Why are the Big Three pursuing these policies in lockstep? Why have no institutions in the financial-services industry except one—the recently launched Strive Asset Management—opted to place the investor first, by giving priority to profit over social issues? The answer reads like a punch line: The Big Three own each other and their market competitors. The Clayton Act was made for situations like this.

Dan Morenoff2022-11-09T21:50:06-06:00August 31st, 2022|Blog|

Starbucks’ Shareholder Sues to Stop Its Civil Rights Violations from Wasting Corporate Assets

Yesterday, for the National Center for Public Policy Research, a [...]

Dan Morenoff2024-03-08T08:49:00-06:00August 30th, 2022|Blog, Filings and Cases|

UPDATE: Racism and Sexism No Longer “Making It … With Lowe’s”

Under pressure from the ACR Project and the shareholders we represent, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has replaced a multi-year promotion that discriminated against small-businesses based on the race and sex of their owners with a parallel program treating all businesses equally. The move follows on the heels of the ACR Project’s parallel success in convincing Coca-Cola to abandon its discriminatory outside counsel policy.

Dan Morenoff2022-08-15T17:08:17-05:00August 15th, 2022|Blog|

ACR Project and Manhattan Institute File with 4th Circuit Amicus Brief Supporting the Coalition for TJ’s Opposition to Intentional Racial Discrimination in School Assignments

Today, we joined with the Manhattan Institute in submitting an amicus brief to the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, supporting the Coalition for TJ in defending the lower court's summary judgment enjoining the Fairfax County Public Schools from continuing to racially discriminate against Northern Virginia's Asian population in school assignments. FCPS was wrong to insist on allocating children's K-12 education based on race, just as their predecessors were wrong during Jim Crow, and just as the school districts involved in Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. were wrong 15 years ago.

Dan Morenoff2024-02-07T10:09:14-06:00June 21st, 2022|Blog, Filings and Cases|

Open Letter to San Diego’s Mayor and City Council, Concerning Reported Intent to “Challenge” California’s Constitution

Reports indicate that San Diego is set to "push" a "challenge" to the California State Constitution's prohibition against racial discrimination in public contracting, despite the actual knowledge of all involved that it would violate at least the state Constitution (and likely violate federal law, as well). We wrote, suggesting they should voluntarily call that off, before the Courts have to do so for them (and assign them, potentially, personal liability for resulting damages).

Dan Morenoff2022-05-27T18:42:42-05:00May 27th, 2022|Blog, Submissions|

Open Letter on Behalf of Shareholders to Officers and Directors of Dropbox, Inc.

Last week, reports indicated that a single senior executive at Dropbox had tweeted that she and it would “choose to prioritize folks in our BIPOC and URM communities” in filling a job opening. As initially covered, the disclosure appeared to reflect a single executive’s rogue statement. The ACR Project’s further investigation has determined otherwise. Accordingly, on behalf of shareholders, we've demanded the retraction of the company's illegal, discriminatory hiring and promotional policies.

Dan Morenoff2022-05-24T05:55:45-05:00May 23rd, 2022|Blog, Submissions|