The primary federal regulator of workplace discrimination may next set its sights on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
America First Legal, a conservative outfit founded by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, filed a civil rights complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the Dodgers and controlling owner Mark Walter’s Guggenheim Partners. It alleges illegal discrimination under the umbrella of their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers and Guggenheim Partners admit that race, color, sex, and national origin play a motivating factor in their considerations for employment decisions,” states the complaint, filed on Monday. “Yet these considerations, which both entities admit are embedded in their culture and day-to-day operations, are patently illegal.”
The move comes shortly after federal immigration agents in unmarked white vans and SUVs were denied entry on June 19 into Dodgers Stadium. Under Trump, the EEOC has been deployed in efforts to seek retribution and extract concessions from entities, namely law firms, the government considers as having been hostile to its priorities.
America First Legal has served as an essential cog in Trump’s crackdown on DEI. It targeted allegedly discriminatory hiring quotas at Disney, specifically a provision requiring that at least half of producer and writing staff come from underrepresented groups, and represented Brian Beneker, a script coordinator for SEAL Team, in a lawsuit claiming that CBS Studios discriminates against straight white men.
In the complaint, the group alleges that the Dodgers are engaging in discriminatory hiring, training and recruitment practices. These include diversity pipeline initiatives and sponsorship programs designed for women and minorities.
“Despite arguments from discrimination advocates that—to meet the goals of ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’—certain groups, such as straight white men, must be treated differently than diverse individuals by holding them to a higher evidentiary standard, the Supreme Court has directly rejected this position,” states the filing.
Notably, the Dodgers’ qualify on their website that they consider all applicants without regard to characteristics protected by federal civil rights laws. Conservative groups have argued that such boilerplate language doesn’t protect from liability for discrimination. The complaint doesn’t cite policies that explicitly reference preferences based on race, religion, age or sexual orientation.
Also at issue: Worker-led groups within the company geared toward fostering DEI. While they’re open for anyone to join, they benefit certain employees based on their race, sex or national origin, the lawsuit says.
One is the Black Action Network, which says it “foster[s] the growth, development, and well-being of the Dodger Black community” in ways that will “ultimately result in opportunities for Black people on the field, in the stands, and in the front office,”; another is SOMOS LA, which allegedly provide Latino employees with employment benefits; the third is the Women’s Opportunity Network, which says it provides an “equitable space for women to thrive.”
Such programs provide unique employment benefits to certain groups, the lawsuit says.
The Dodgers’ controlling owner is Walter, chief executive of global investing giant Guggenheim Partners. America First Legal claims that the company’s hiring decisions are similarly motivated by illegally increasing diversity. One example: Guggenheim Partners states that its commitment to DEI involves the development of “diversity recruiting and talent management strategies to identify, attract, develop and retain top talent” to achieve its diversity goals, according to the complaint.
America First Legal urges the EEOC to identify the extent to which the Dodgers and Guggenheim Partners discriminate against straight white men by collecting application data and internal human resources policies that could identify whether there’s a preference for certain groups.
“AFL has once again stepped up to the plate, standing up for Americans against major corporations committed to discriminating based on race, color, national origin, and sex,” said America First Legal lawyer Will Scolinos. “AFL will stand firm, taking the fight to influential corporations until their policies reflect that there is no ‘right’ kind of discrimination, even if they use the friendliest ‘inclusion’ terminology.”
The Dodgers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.