Has Activist Starbuck Made Camel-maker Reynolds Cut its DEI?
Reynolds American Inc. is the latest big company to roll back its US diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
The move includes ending participation in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate (HRCF) Equality Index and ceasing its sponsorship of Pride events.
Reynolds, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco, is also ending affirmative action programmes, mandatory training focused on DEI issues and reviewing healthcare policies related to gender-affirming care for minor dependents.
Why is this happening now?
Two weeks ago, high-profile US anti-DEI campaigner Robby Starbuck made Reynolds his latest target.
Robby has made himself a controversial figure in the US, using social media and broadcasters to attack the DEI policies of countless major firms headquartered in the nation.
Reynolds confirmed that it worked with Robby on the timing and communication of its changes.
In the video below, posted on YouTube two weeks ago, Robby singles out Reynolds and BAT for criticism over their “woke” agenda.
Robby writes: “I'm exposing Reynolds American Foundation, and their parent company British American Tobacco.
These are the people behind Camel, Newport, Pall Mall — brands you’ve probably seen for decades — but behind the scenes, they’ve embraced a radical, far-left agenda that has nothing to do with tobacco and everything to do with pushing DEI, ESG and political ideology onto their workers, their consumers, and even into our government.”
‘We respect differing opinions…’
Reynolds, which was bought by London-listed BAT in 2017, has its base in Tobaccoville, North Carolina, US.
It will cease participation in the HRCF’s Corporate Equality Index, which measures LGBTQ workplace practices, end sponsorship of Pride events and end affirmative action programmes that were mandated by President Joe Biden’s administration, the company said in a letter to employees, according to Bloomberg.
“We respect differing opinions, but we are taking these steps because they are necessary to ensure the company’s and our employees’ success,” David Waterfield, president and CEO of Reynolds, said in the letter.
Robby announced the rollback on social media. Reynolds said many changes were under consideration before Robby’s involvement.
The company said in the letter that it dropped affirmative action programmes, other than those for veterans or disabled employees.
It will end its allyship guide and instead maintain a “focus on building a supportive workplace for all employees”.
The rapid rollback
The battle to either axe or protect DEI policies is one of the highest-profile issues in the US, drawing a sharp dividing line between right- and left-leaning people.
The anti-DEI campaign gained traction during US President Donald Trump's successful White House campaign.
When he took up his second term, President Trump issued a series of executive orders that banned DEI in the federal government and sought to identify “illegal DEI” in companies and organisations.
Many companies, large and small, responded to the pressure by cutting back their own programmes, including Meta, McDonald’s, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, BlackRock, Google, Boeing, Target and PepsiCo.
Signs of real resistance?
While many US companies have watered down or scrapped DEI policies, recent evidence suggests that it is more about publicly aligning with the US government than fully rolling back DEI.
Last week, shareholders at Walmart and Netflix voted overwhelmingly to reject NCPPR proposals.
The same occurred at Apple, Amazon, John Deere and Goldman Sachs.
The Apple vote, which saw 97% of shareholders reject anti-DEI proposals, quickly escalated into a war of words.
Following the vote, President Trump was vocal in his criticism of the tech giant.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, he said: “Apple should get rid of DEI rules, not just make amendments to them. DEI was a hoax that has been very bad for our country. DEI is gone!”
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