Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is calling on discount retailer Costco to end policies that are increasingly being viewed as discriminatory.
Marshall joined 18 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to Costco, calling on them to end their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices because they’re “unlawful.”
“Insidious DEI practices, like those championed by Costco, undermine the ideal of individualism and, ultimately, the American dream,” Marshall said about the letter on X.
Insidious DEI practices, like those championed by Costco, undermine the ideal of individualism and, ultimately, the American dream. https://t.co/mIOiipx0fx
— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) January 28, 2025
Costco announced last year that they will be keeping their DEI policies despite other major companies deciding to scale down or end DEI programs.
“Although Costco’s motto is ‘do the right thing,’ it appears that the company is doing the wrong thing—clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as illegal,” the attorneys general said in the letter. “Costco should treat every person equally and based on their merit, rather than based on divisive and discriminatory DEI practices. That reflects President Trump’s executive order encouraging ‘the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI discrimination and Preferences.’”
The attorneys general also used Supreme Court precedent to make their case against Costco.
“The Supreme Court said it best: ‘Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.’ For the good of its employees, investors, and customers, Costco should ‘do the right thing’ by following the law and repealing its DEI policies. Within 30 days, please either notify us that Costco has repealed its DEI policies or explain why Costco has failed to do so. We look forward to your response.”
The letter comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders to end DEI programs in the federal government.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
