back to article IBM sued again for alleged discrimination – this time against White males

IBM-owned Red Hat has been sued for allegedly discriminating against a White male employee. The legal team behind the suit is led by Stephen Miller, a key anti-immigration advisor to Donald Trump during his presidency. The stateside complaint claims that in the pursuit of greater racial and gender diversity within the Linux …

  1. cornetman Silver badge

    > In December, O'Keefe shared leaked video that appeared to show IBM CEO Arvind Krishna asking managers to diversify their staff – essentially, hire non-Whites – or risk losing their bonuses. A top Red Hat executive also appeared to suggest people had been fired for failing to diversify teams.

    The left has made racism fashionable again. They won't admit it, they just call it "diversity". Make no mistake, it is racism.

    This all makes me think of the end of the Hunger Games where some of the victors want to bring the "games" back but with the Capital citizens participating instead. They had forgotten that it's not about who the participants are. It is that the games, and racism, themselves that are the evil.

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      What alternate timeline are you visiting from? Sounds like a real shithole, no wonder you left.

      1. cornetman Silver badge
        Facepalm

        No idea WTF you are talking about.

        1. aerogems Silver badge
          Holmes

          Well, you're clearly not from this timeline and/or reality based on your comments, so I'm just curious as to which one you're from.

          1. LybsterRoy Silver badge

            Please clarify which part of his comments you think indicate alternative reality.

            1. aerogems Silver badge

              It's rather subtle really. Everything. The paranoia, the unprovoked pejoratives, and comments completely divorced from objective reality.

        2. LybsterRoy Silver badge

          I have no idea WTF aerogems is on about either. However, something I have noticed over the last few days is that there are an inordinate amount of downvotes for things he/she/whatever is not in favour of. I wonder if he/she/whatever has found a way to game the vote counts?

          1. aerogems Silver badge

            I suppose it is getting to be election time and Trump and his surrogates have already started ramping up laying the groundwork for a second go at "the election was stolen" with their rhetoric... so, it really shouldn't be surprising that the more gullible amongst the populace start echoing the same sentiments and finding new and "creative" ways to apply the conspiracy theory. I mean, far be it for pesky things like facts and reason get in the way. Because the idea that I just sit around all day making sock puppet accounts on a trivial site like El Reg, and then cycle through them just to downvote people I don't agree with makes so much more sense than there are thousands of people visiting this site over the course of a given day and they are twat shaming people like you. You are in a cult. Seek professional help.

            1. Ghostman

              IBM sued again for alleged discrimination – this time against White males

              1 day

              aerogems

              Silver badge

              Reply Icon

              I suppose it is getting to be election time and Trump and his surrogates have already started ramping up laying the groundwork for a second go at "the election was stolen" with their rhetoric... so, it really shouldn't be surprising that the more gullible amongst the populace start echoing the same sentiments and finding new and "creative" ways to apply the conspiracy theory. I mean, far be it for pesky things like facts and reason get in the way. Because the idea that I just sit around all day making sock puppet accounts on a trivial site like El Reg, and then cycle through them just to downvote people I don't agree with makes so much more sense than there are thousands of people visiting this site over the course of a given day and they are twat shaming people like you. You are in a cult. Seek professional help.

              Somehow or the other, I think the idgit called aerogems is himself in an alternate reality caused by either ingestion of an "enhancement" formulation, or has found how to unlock the computer of the floor nurse where he is being treated for "chemical imbalances". Go back to bed, take your meds, and leave discussions to the adults. There are no politics involved, it's all in your head.

    2. monty75

      Is this “The Left” in the room with us now?

      1. Stubbly Dude

        Yes, I can see it, it's over there --------->

        Oh no, wait, that's the right..

        It's over there

        <-------------

        Or maybe it's just the voices....

        1. Hans 1
          Facepalm

          Yes, I can see it, it's over there --------->

          Oh no, wait, that's the wrong..

          It's over there

          <-------------

          #TFTFY

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Very true, it's just another acceptable prejudice, like all the prejudice in the workplace before it.

      Sickening thing is, it's just employers taking the easy option to DEI. Finding and developing talent requires effort, but chopping or not promoting people because of their skin colour / age / gender is easy.

      AC because, yeah, you know..

    4. Grogan Silver badge

      I certainly agree with not discriminating based on race or gender etc. but hiring needs to be merit based, not token minorities to improve optics.

      However, your comment about the left is idiotic. It is the typical logic of projection.

      1. Joe 59

        So it's not the left who are promoting this?

    5. Ian Johnston Silver badge

      The left has made racism fashionable again. They won't admit it, they just call it "diversity". Make no mistake, it is racism.

      "when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression"

      -- origin unknown

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Equity is NOT equality.

  2. aerogems Silver badge
    Mushroom

    As far as I'm concerned, anyone who takes money from Stephen Miller can fuck all the way off and back again. Then they can take the paper their lawsuit was written on, douse the thing in gasoline, light it on fire, and shove it up their ass. This is just a political stunt for Miller to push his Nazi white nationalist agenda. The somewhat amusing thing is that since this is being filed in Idaho, there's only the barest of minimums in the way of worker protections, so this guy is likely going to be hoist by his own petard. Shit like this is a waste of time and resources and detracts from people who have actually been harmed, and yes. sometimes they're white, just not nearly as often as everyone else.

    Besides, it wasn't that long ago that people like Stephen Miller and his patsy where bemoaning "activist judges" which is now precisely what they're looking for. They're trying to use the courts to legalize racism.

    1. aerogems Silver badge
      Facepalm

      For the two people (at time of posting) who downvoted, I accept your critique. Clearly I should have said they should cover the lawsuit papers in napalm, light them on fire, and shove them up their ass. That is totally my fault, and I accept full responsibility for it. I'm disappointed in those of you who thought gasoline was sufficient. Shame!

      1. Outski

        Tiger Balm is more effective (per Heinlein)

      2. Grogan Silver badge

        Hey, I got a post deleted for calling Stephen Miller a parasitic little nazi hall monitor (as in, of course he'd be involved in this). It said it was removed because a parent was deleted, but that's not the case. It wasn't in a reply, it was a top level post.

        What do they expect if they are going to post politics on a Tech site anyway? Patchouli and kumbaya?

        Fuck these Trumpanzees downvoting you. Here, you'll get some just because people are ignoramuses. It's pretty rare that any post gets none if it's noticed by very many people. I'm an asshole and sometimes I wear it like a badge and I don't mean I don't deserve some of them, but there must be people that sit here and go "nope, nope, nope".

        IBM is discriminating against white males... what bollocks. This article, discussion and censorship have soured me on this site a bit.

    2. DS999 Silver badge

      Filing in Idaho

      The somewhat amusing thing is that since this is being filed in Idaho, there's only the barest of minimums in the way of worker protections

      It is filed in federal court, and Red Hat is based in North Carolina, so Idaho's state worker protections are irrelevant. It would be governed under federal law. I assume it was filed in Idaho because 1) that's where the guy lives and 2) its federal court district is a lot more conservative than the North Carolina district where Red Hat's HQ is located.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Anyone that doesn’t agree with me is a Nazi. An argument more flawed than Boeing’s DIE strategy.

      1. aerogems Silver badge

        If you associate with Nazis, take money from Nazis, and agree with Nazi ideology... guess what? You are a Nazi.

        1. aerogems Silver badge
          Alert

          That's scary. I seem to have hit a little too close to home for at least six people. If you're upset by the idea that your ideology mirrors that of the Nazis, here's a free tip: Do something about it. Instead of celebrating your ignorance, try embracing education.

          Edit: I see at least one person is doubling down on celebrating their ignorance. Where's the exit to this timeline? I want to find one where logic and reason still matter and stupidity isn't seen as a virtue.

          1. ecofeco Silver badge

            There appears to be far too many incels in this comments sections today.

            Yeah Stephen Miller needs to go away. Very, very far away.

            1. aerogems Silver badge
              Boffin

              We really need a new term for these people, because incel could apply to a lot of people who aren't complete fuckwits. Maybe someone had an accident and lost their testicles. Maybe a woman was raped, like Ms. Carrol, and was so traumatized by the event it has made it impossible for them to have sex. Maybe someone has an STD/STI and doesn't want to spread it.

              Besides, the fuckwits like those we see on the comments section today are not really involuntarily celibate, they're very much making a conscious choice to act in a way that will ensure they turn off prospective romantic partners. However, at the same time, they're not exactly voluntarily celibate, like a priest who actually takes that vow seriously. So, a new term needs to be coined. You could say "Trump supporter" but it's not a phenomenon limited to just the US.

  3. Howard Sway Silver badge

    he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

    So he wasn't sacked because he was white, he was sacked because he loudly mouthed off against the policies of the company that was paying his salary. And I'm guessing that being "vocal about his opposition" means he did it in a fairly offensive way. Just another fool who can't tell the difference between his workplace and an internet comments section.

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

      Given he not only attracted the attention of Stephen Miller, but took money from him, I'd say that there's about a 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% chance this whole thing was premeditated and he deliberately set out to get fired for "protesting" the policy change.

      IANAL, and I feel like I need a shower for defending IBM on a discrimination lawsuit, but if their lawyers can establish during discovery that there was contact between this epic douchenozzle and The Jewish Nazi before he was fired, they probably stand a pretty good chance of getting the case dismissed and probably have decent grounds to countersue for vexatious litigation or some such.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

        I'd bet good money you are right.

        It all smells, to high heaven, of a set-up.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

      RedNeck sues RedHat? Vaguely poetic in a way.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

      Do you support the google workers who got fired for their protests about project nimbus a couple of weeks back?

      1. aerogems Silver badge

        Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

        Nice false equivalency.

        Google employees were protesting the killing and starving of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the part Google played in it by selling services to the Israeli military. The fuckwit in this piece is working with a Nazi in an attempt to use the courts to legalize racism. I'd bet everything you own that the fuckwit in this piece deliberately set out to get himself fired just so he could file this lawsuit. If you can't understand the difference between those two scenarios, you may well be a clinical sociopath.

        1. aerogems Silver badge

          Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

          And once again, our precious little snowflakes can't offer up any kind of rebuttal, intelligent or otherwise, so just act like the cowardly little bitches we all know they are, and downvote.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

            Nice ratio.

            Gross misconduct is gross misconduct no matter the cause. I would say that the google people were trying to be martyrs but I'm not sure they are that smart. Being the hyper-entitled people they are they probably thought that throwing a tantrum would work and there would be zero consequences.

            And lets not forget that the google people were protesting in support of an actual named terrorist group rather than someone you personally just dislike in this case.

            1. aerogems Silver badge

              Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

              And lets not forget that the google people were protesting in support of an actual named terrorist group rather than someone you personally just dislike in this case.

              Another twofer. First, you make the same facile argument as calling someone antisemitic because they disagree with actions of the Israeli government by falsely equating regular everyday Palestinian citizens with Hamas members. Second, you show you know nothing about the recent history of Gaza. There haven't been elections in Gaza for something like 20 years. A lot of the people suffering right now never voted for Hamas leadership, they may not have even been born yet, nor are they a member of Hamas. Something anyone who's bothered to look into this whole situation even a tiny bit beyond just listening to a few talking heads on cable news, would have quickly learned.

              What Hamas did is unforgiveable, but it also doesn't excuse the genocide being committed. Given the history of Israel, you'd think they'd be a bit more sensitive to things like that.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

                It isn't me calling them antisemitic for criticising the Israeli govt. Your beloved Democrats are the ones who are doing that. Chuck Schumer has told the ICC that they must not make any moves against Israel about the supposed genocide in Gaza. The US govt machine is bought and paid for by the Israeli lobby, both sides of the uniparty. You attack the repubs who dare to vote against the uniparty but then bleat and blither about the IDF wiping Gaza off the face of the earth with the approval and protection of the US govt.

                Make up your mind. The only ones in the US trying to stop the shitshow are the ones you have been programmed to hate.

                And the reason there have been no elections in Gaza? Cos Hamas won once and seized power.

                1. aerogems Silver badge

                  Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

                  Did this article get posted to The Daily Stormer or some other white nationalist/pro-fascism site or something? I wouldn't expect El Reg to really be worth the effort for a troll farm, and of course we all expect our little jailbird Jellied Vatnick Eel to stalk everyone who's ever twat shamed him in the past and downvote every single post they make, but the number of people who seem ready to cream their pants at the idea of a utopia for white people is a lot higher than you typically find on a tech oriented site, which cater more to a highly educated demographic. At least a bachelors level education, along with a fair bit of additional self-taught learning, which also requires a lot of analytical skills. That in turn usually means that the facile reasoning and solutions offered by conservative pundits don't really have a lot of appeal because it doesn't take more than a half-second of thought to realize they wouldn't ever work.

                  So, I'm left wondering where it is you all came here from.

                  1. aerogems Silver badge

                    Re: he was "vocal about his opposition" to Red Hat's DEI policies

                    I'll take the downvotes without comment as a yes.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Sets race-relations back sixty years

    Congratulations wokeists, you've managed to set race-relations back sixty years. Which I suspect was the plan all along. PKD was writing a parody, I think.

    Technos -- coming to meet him; his flesh crawled. Caucs. Their skins glittered pale and unhealthy, like nocturnal insects, dug from under rocks.

    The Turning Wheel (1953)

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

      Welcome, visitor from another reality. Try not to make this one like the shithole you came from. kthxbye.

      1. LybsterRoy Silver badge

        Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

        I know I'm not supposed to feed the trolls but maybe I can find a shop selling troll poison. Failing that maybe I can trick it out into the sunshine.

      2. Ghostman

        Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

        Reply to post: Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

        IBM sued again for alleged discrimination – this time against White males

        2 days

        aerogems

        Silver badge

        Reply Icon

        Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

        Welcome, visitor from another reality. Try not to make this one like the shithole you came from. kthxbye.

        What? did someone chime in from California?

        1. aerogems Silver badge

          Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

          You are the very personification of someone who's all hat and no cattle.

    2. disgruntled yank Silver badge

      Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

      As one who was here (in the USA) sixty years ago, not an active participant but reading newspapers, watching TV, and listening to conversations, I think that perhaps you should look into the way things were.

    3. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Sets race-relations back sixty years

      Take your meds.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah, Stephen Miller. The right wing dipshit that believes in white supremscy but is a particularly poor physical specimen of a human being. According to accounts from people that attended university with him he's far from as smart as he thinks he is but tries to compensate through sheer arrogance.

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      He's a literal Jewish Nazi. His family barely escaped the holocaust, he has like an uncle who's a rabbi, but he seems to think that Hitler was a swell guy who had some interesting ideas on how to treat fellow human beings.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        That is NOT hyperbole. He really is a quisling.

    2. LybsterRoy Silver badge
      Joke

      He'd make a great CEO then

      1. doublerot13

        lol, yeah, he has a very bright future in corporate management

  6. Bebu
    Windows

    Wasn't a dino baby then?

    All a bit surreal. An obnoxious corporation (IBM albeit wearing its red fedora) dumps an equally obnoxious and apparently slightly demented employee for what a normal person would imagine for those reasons rather than his lack of melanin.

    When I realized that the diversity target 30% female (by whatever definition) and 30% of colour (meaning non-white) doesn't mean only 40% can be white males as as the two 30% categories overlap - 30% females of colour would leave you with potentially 70% (realistically 55%) white male - it actually seems to be a reasonable, possibly conservative, aspiration given the US demographics.

    My guess is that IBM will settle simply because there are enough (remaining) customers that believe this guff and identify with the complainant.

    1. GodBlessIBM

      Re: Wasn't a dino baby then?

      What was obnoxious about this employee?

    2. LybsterRoy Silver badge

      Re: Wasn't a dino baby then?

      -- it actually seems to be a reasonable, possibly conservative, aspiration given the US demographics. --

      I love the (sort of) logic. Skills and talents are not distributed in the same ration as sex or skin colour.

      1. Zibob Silver badge

        Re: Wasn't a dino baby then?

        Careful now, sounds awfully like, "men should be out cutting trees and providing while the woman stays at home and cleans and cooks"

        Frankly while some people may be more adept at a certain thing, the facts are the people can learn anything if they have the drive.

        So no. Assuming a person learns literally anything growing up they have expanded their skills.

  7. Yes Me Silver badge
    WTF?

    Senior what?

    Whoever hired this person should probably be fired too.

    Also, how can someone purported to be a "senior director" also be "on a fast track to becoming an executive"? Either they're already an executive, or they aren't really any kind of director at all. In IBM terminology, a Director is one step below VP.

  8. Trigun

    Putting the messanger aside for a moment, what is said about DEI (which is morphing into Bridge) and it being anti white male is correct. Disney is also being done for this as well.

    We've also had similar attempts at discriminationin the UK re Royal Air Force fast promotion for anyone but white guys (yes, they tried this and yes I have confirmation from the Ministry of Defence via my MP), Covid relief by the Welsh government (we're prioritising women, people of colour and lgbt - so who does that leave out?). More broadly we've had a dance company drop ballet as "it's too white", plus issues in our universities.

    I was brought up not to discriminate based off of race, sex etc - it's a societal contract - but that concept has been ditched in recent years by an alarming number of companies and, more worringly, institutions - particularly in entertainment, marketing and hiring. You can be left wing, right wing, in the middle wing - whatever you like - but this vile nastiness needs to go because it's earning a colosally stupid prize in the future for everyone.

    1. LybsterRoy Silver badge

      I apologise I can only give one upvote.

    2. unimaginative
      Flame

      Like all extremes, the woke and the far right feed off each other. Each outrages people into supporting the other.

      "More broadly we've had a dance company drop ballet as "it's too white","

      That is racist. Its saying non-white people are no sophisticated enough to enjoy ballet.

      Everyone in my non white family except me likes ballet.

      The problem is that race is so deeply entrenched in US culture that even people trying not to be racist (and of all races) cannot let go of the idea that it is an unalterable fundamental of what people are. You can see this in the fact that people are happy to accept gender self-identification struggle to accept people who want to similarly self-identify their race. Race is a lot less fundamental - its based on very superficial characteristics, that vary between cultures.

      The deep racism makes me understand why people in the US want "affirmative action". I think its a huge mistake, but I can understand why. Doing the same thing in the UK makes things worse. I wrote a blog post, based partly on my own experience of multiple cultures, explaining that racism is a different thing in different places.. The US and India are similar, the UK is very different, and other places are different from any of them.

      1. MiguelC Silver badge

        Affirmative action is meant to address historical discrimination. Multiple studies in the US show that race is a factor of poverty, so some kind of redress policy is needed to equalize grounds. And those policies are felt as attacks by those who've long gained from their historical superior status, rightly fearing to lose privileges they've long enjoyed.

        Btw, your blog post is quite a worthwhile read.

        1. Trigun

          Your problem is looking at this as a majority racial issue while failing to acknowledge that there are many white men who have never benefited from such historic status - at least not in any significant way. Really, it's too broad a generalisation much in the same way that current day feminism attacks all men as if every single man is responsible for the ghastly actions of a minority.

          By the way: Affirmative Action not only is by itself racist against those not being affirmed, but also against the very people it was supposed to help. That's why, in part, it got dropped because the stats showed black people in the U.S. who benefited from the policy dropping out in much larger numbers. Why? Because imbalance wasn't addressed when they were growing up and so when such people got to college/uni age they were not ready for it. I've always said that this issue needs to be 1) addressed at a young age, 2) not based off of race but need instead, 3) the cultutal element must also be addressed in neighbourhoods which require help. it reiuires time, effort and money but governments always go for the easy option so it never truly gets fixed.

          1. aerogems Silver badge

            You can dress your racist ideology up in pseudo-intellectual babble, but it doesn't change the core racism of your message.

            As a white person in the US, I am virtually guaranteed never to be pulled over by a cop unless I really do something strange on the road. If I buy something in a store, and say I don't need a bag, I'm not going to be accused of shoplifting. By simple virtue of having a WASPy name, I am more likely to get interviews for jobs compared to someone with a more traditional black name. I have benefitted in many ways throughout my life, and for much of it I was completely oblivious because that's just the way things had always been. After I moved out of my predominately white home state and started being exposed to people of different backgrounds, I started to realize just how good I had it relative to these people. It doesn't mean I'm ashamed to be white, that's just another attempt by racist talking heads on cable news networks to distract people. It means that I recognize I've been advantaged in many aspects of my life relative to others, simply because my skin is pale. I then go a bit further and actively promote a more perfect society where this shit doesn't happen. People should only be pulled over if there's some kind of moving violation. People shouldn't need to prove in multiple ways that they legally purchased something at a store. People should be hired for jobs based on their qualifications first, and then maybe as a distant second, whether their personality seems like a good "fit" for the company. Everything else should be tossed in the trash.

            1. Trigun

              "You can dress your racist ideology up in pseudo-intellectual babble, but it doesn't change the core racism of your message."

              I'm trying to argue a point which the I believe that the supreme court argued in your country from what I understand (if I'm wrong then I'll stand corrected): But it makes sense to me. Want to have a decent discussion? Don't shove you assumptions that anyone who does not agree with you is an 'ist or 'phobe.

              You are also making an egregious mistake: You are assuming that everyone who shares your skin colour has the same benefits that you do. Utter foolishness to assume that. There are people in my country who look like me who range from ultra rich to absolute dirt poor. It would be utter idocy to treat them the same based upon skin colour. From what I've read and seen, your country is much the same? You can acknowlege your benefits but to promote discrimination against people who may not have had those benefits because they look like you is not right to say the least.

              I'll also point out that there are plenty of people who are not white who are ultra rich. If anything you have a CLASS problem I believe. You know what sorts that out? Doing what I suggested.

              By the way: I'm not saying that you don't have some racism, but just keep in mind that fighting racism with more racism (even if you try to redefine the term to not make you look & sound horrible) doesn't work and makes things worse and usually leads to a complete over correction - as with Disney.

    3. aerogems Silver badge

      Putting the messanger aside for a moment, what is said about DEI (which is morphing into Bridge) and it being anti white male is correct. Disney is also being done for this as well.

      Uh, no, that's not what it's about. It's about trying to eliminate racial bias in employment decisions, including hiring, firing, promoting, etc. Since white people have been unfairly stacking the deck in their own favor for a few centuries, it naturally means that more non-white people will be hired, promoted, and what have you. The point of DEI is so that, for example, if you live in an area that is say 30% white, 30% black, 30% south asian, and 10% miscellaneous, the composition of any given company's workforce should be roughly in line with the demographics of the surrounding area. If you have a company where 90% of the employees are white, but only about 30% of the surrounding community is white, that means that race is being given undue consideration when deciding who to hire.

      If you're part of the privileged group that is now suddenly getting a taste for what it's been like for everyone else the past few centuries, well, remember that feeling and work to create a better world where no one has to experience it ever again.

      1. Trigun

        I responded to one of your other posts so I'm repeating a little:

        DEI (Didn't Earn It) simply discriminates immutable characteristics is the absolute killer of meritocracy and human ambition. We're seeing this across the west in many areas. Most noticeably is with Hollywood, Comics industry, Game industry. Worst is that we have it in government and our *armed services*. With regards the armed services: Both the US and UK had a hiring issue before DEI was implemented and since its implementation recruitment has dropped off of a cliff since. We've got to the point in the UK where retired senior officers (because serving ones cannot) in the army, navy and airforce have written a collective letter to our government to object. We've also had member of your own miliary make comments on our government doing this.

        I've also noticed DEI brings out the worst in some people: anti-white, ant-male racist/sexists because it gives a societal green light to such people - and no, I'm not accusing you of this as I don't know you - just saying others exhibit this. Think how it was normalised to talk about black people back in the 1970's and before. Disgusting.

        I thoroughly object to treating a bunch of people as sub-citizens based off of their immutable characteristics - whatever those happen to be - and anyone trying it with me with find out the hard way that it's a mistake to do so.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        To eliminate racial bias in employment decisions, try eliminating racial bias in employment decisions - as in, don't take it into account! The whole purpose of DEI for a company is to bias in favor of someone, based on something other than performance. In other words, the very thing you are (very loudly and offensively) claiming to oppose.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          This is the thing, when they tried blind hiring in white collar industries the outcome was MORE white males being hired.

          The two options are 1) bring everyone up to the same standards of education and give true equality of opportunity or 2) lower the standards for some groups.

          Option 1 needs hard work from the teachers and students so they picked option 2.

    4. ecofeco Silver badge

      Take your meds.

      1. aerogems Silver badge
        Holmes

        I sort of think the problem is a little too much self-medicating.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why are the Trumpies suing Red Hat?

    I thought that they all wear red hats?

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: I thought that they all wear red hats?

      Those 'Red Hats'... you know the ones with Trump 45/47/2024 etc on them are all made in China but they don't care. The Orange Jesus and his alien sidekick, Stephen Miller are the worst advert for the USA possible. Mr Miller is not (AFAIK) even a Lawyer. He is Trumps ass [redacted]. He reminds me of Goebbels.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Interesting that "white" is now capitalised, presumably asa result of the trend to capitalise "black". Is this now Register etiquette?

    1. Trigun

      I noticed that 5 or so years back creeping in starting with 'Black'. 'White' came in later but I don't think it's a reaction, but more a continuance of a trend as the people who use both tend to be into the identity politics side of things.

  11. naive

    Time will tell

    whether a strategy to select staff based on IQ, education and skills or on other factors like skin color and gender brings more success.

    Gender is an interesting parameter, since they seem to have many of those in the USA, maybe it is because USA is the only place in the world where aliens landed, who knows ?.

  12. Pete Sdev
    Flame

    Do you hear that noise?

    Hark, the anguished screams of those losing their unearned privilege.

    1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

      Re: Do you hear that noise?

      So you'd happily discriminate based on skin colour when recruiting people?

      1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

        Re: Do you hear that noise?

        Depends who the OP was talking about.

        1. Trigun

          Re: Do you hear that noise?

          That's true I guess. If it's down racial lines then I have a definate problem with that statement.

      2. Pete Sdev

        Re: Do you hear that noise?

        I'm quite happy for organisations taking action to correct previous discrimination and biases. It's the grown-up thing to do: if you've made a mistake in the past, you attempt to make ammends, particularly if that mistake has lasting effects.

        After a sufficient amount of time, together with broader social adjustments, it should no longer be necessary.

        Given that ~50% of the population is female, you'd expect a bare minimum of 25% female employees (assuming a suitable sample size I.e. not a small business). If it's less than that then there's a bias. IBM's target of 30% is thus quite reasonable.

        1. rcxb Silver badge

          Re: Do you hear that noise?

          ~50% of the population is female, you'd expect a bare minimum of 25% female employees (assuming a suitable sample size I.e. not a small business). If it's less than that then there's a bias.

          It seems strange to me to force large numbers of women to become e.g. sanitation workers, and men to become e.g. nurses & therapists. Please explain why exactly is it that we need to do so.

          And how would we do so, exactly? Is it like sports where we have to create separate-but-equal companies where only women are allowed?

      3. aerogems Silver badge
        Windows

        Re: Do you hear that noise?

        Wow, a twofer. You not only demonstrated you don't know what DEI programs are about, but you proved the OP's point in the process. I'd say well done, but I thought you people were against the idea of rewarding failure.

      4. ecofeco Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Do you hear that noise?

        So you'd happily discriminate based on skin colour when recruiting people?

        Best self-aware wolf comment in the comments yet.

        1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
          IT Angle

          Re: Do you hear that noise?

          Wolf? forgive me for being old but is that a compliment or an insult?

          And in any case, the best answer I know for fighting racial bias is this

          "We were protesting for equal treatment, not special treatment, not treatment different to the white folks got, but equal treatment"

          And thats from someone I knew who was old enough to have taken part in the civil rights protests of the '60s

  13. TimMaher Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Wood then warned against…

    …“trusting some elite group to curate the information you are able to consider and evaluate for yourself."

    I thought he claimed to be religious?

  14. hammarbtyp
    Joke

    Finally...

    Thank god someone is at last standing up for the white male, they've has a tough time over the last 600 years

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Finally...

      Have my upvote.

    2. rcxb Silver badge

      Re: Finally...

      In the U.S.A. right now women are graduating University at close to DOUBLE the rate of men. Additionally, whites are only maintaining the narrowest majority there today, and likely to slip into minority status in short order.

      https://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=72

      Do we need to give women and non-whites their own 600 years of dominance and oppression of others to even things out?

      I don't really feel like my ancestors had a great 600 years of privilege that gave me a huge advantage, deserving of being discriminated against now... but maybe that's just because I'm Irish:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsg29nIkl5o

  15. Tubz Silver badge

    "ism"'s just evolve and revolve over the centuries. If you look back we started with gender, then social status (classes), religion, colours, sexuality, age, so I wonder what is next, maybe being single, white, male, christian and hetrosexual, will be the next minority and I bet nothing will be done about that, by all the other represented groups !

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm a white male heterosexual Christian. I've been denied an interview at least once because I'm not "diverse"; to quote the hiring manager, "we have to consider all the diversity candidates first".

      Making employment decisions using race, gender, religion, etc., is illegal. It's time to enforce that, regardless of who gets the advantage or disadvantage.

  16. sabroni Silver badge
    Boffin

    When you have centuries of bias in your favour

    any attempt to address that bias is seen as an attack.

    What you need is a bit of persective.

    1. Trigun

      Re: When you have centuries of bias in your favour

      How you deal with something is as important as you chosing to deal with it in the first place. The way it's being dealt with now leaves white men increasingly resentful, bitter and angry while many women and non-white people are shouting "Not in my name!" but are ignored or treated badly because they don't conform to genuine bigotry.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: When you have centuries of bias in your favour

      If you think only white men are racist, you haven’t been out much. Certainly you haven’t travelled anywhere far.

  17. JessicaRabbit

    Given all the up and downvotes on the comments so far I just want to take a moment to appreciate that TheRegister hasn't taken away our downvote buttons/counts.

  18. spold Silver badge
    Joke

    >>> appeared to show IBM CEO Arvind Krishna asking managers to diversify their staff

    Like, you know, go and lop a few limbs off them....

    Their staff implies the ones they have got...

    (note Icon and it's Friday, dangerous though it seems to be to post anything on this thread!)

  19. trevorde Silver badge

    Alternate headline

    WASP sues WASP company who fired him for being a WASP

    1. aerogems Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Alternate headline

      Stings a little, doesn't it?

  20. ecofeco Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Oh for fecks sake

    "White male" is NOT a protected class.

    Must be nice to be so stupid and yet have money to burn.

    1. aerogems Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Oh for fecks sake

      Actually, it is. If you can show that you were treated differently because you were white or male, that is absolutely a protected class. It's just a lot harder to do when most companies are predominately white and male.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: Oh for fecks sake

        Ya know what, I had to refresh my memory and turns, you're right!

        Racial discrimination applies to all races by law.

        But he has to prove that. If he has the documentation, not hearsay (i.e. just his word is NOT documentation) then good for him. But he was let go along with 800-1000 others (per the article). Of his claim that 20 others where also white male, that makes the approximate percentage of white males who were fired... 2%.

        At present there are approximately 19,000 Red Hat employees.

        Slightly different number per this website. (no date given) https://www.zippia.com/red-hat-careers-9680/demographics/

        Red Hat has 13,400 employees.

        38% of Red Hat employees are women, while 62% are men.

        The most common ethnicity at Red Hat is White (57%).

        13% of Red Hat employees are Asian.

        13% of Red Hat employees are Black or African American.

        Unfortunately, HIS documented statements that make him look like a twat are not in his favor. In America, publicly calling your employer a cunt, is legal grounds for termination. Let alone repeatedly.

        Oops.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Recruitment bias

    Almost all the engineers we have recruited over the last few years have been of middle eastern origin*, except for one weirdo from Ireland..

    the 'privileged white males' have been using their 1st world education institutes to get arts degrees, while people in less affluent countries are actually getting practical educations as a mechanism to get out of their original country.

    *when a new guy turned up with an Indian or Iranian name, I asked if he was the new engineer, he responded that he wasnt smart enough for that, so I told him our engineers werent that smart either..

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shame

    He sounded like a model employee too.

    - Conspiracist

    - Anti-vax

    - Right-wing

    - Religious nut job

  23. Spunbearing

    I have seen this before

    The employer is bound by privacy requirements to not disclose details regarding the termination. The employee can claim unchallenged whatever they like in the press. Most times behind the smoke screen of the unfair treatment claims you will find a low performing employee that was difficult to work with. To avoid taking a look as to why they were cut they blame everything else. The inability to take responsibility and address their own shortcomings is what gets them on the short list.

    They believe their own lie and get to tell their story unchallenged. The fun part is when third parties with an agenda come in. They really don't care about the actual case, they want to make a political statement use these individuals to their advantage. The cases take years to wind through the court system and eventually it comes out that the employee was fired for just cause. In the meantime those with the tiki torches use the case as a rally call to raise money and gain influence. Losses in court? The system was rigged we need to appeal! Case dismissed with prejudice? We are fighting the good fight and the system was rigged! While it is entirely possible that he has a case most large companies have a decent legal staff that knows the rules.

    Those backing these type of cases never admit in the media that they ever lost and the long term court battle is a moot point, they are paying to influence opinion (and collect donations); the case is just a vehicle towards that.

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      Re: I have seen this before

      You just described virtually every Trump voter in America. It's not because they dropped out of high school and are unwilling to learn new skills, it's because of those damn Mexicans coming over the border illegally that they've been out of work for years! And so on and so forth. Whatever the problem, it's always someone else's fault. They lack the self-awareness to think that maybe, just maybe, if they consistently find themselves at the center of a shit tornado, maybe it's of their own doing.

      The downvotes without any kind of accompanying rebuttal this post gets will just show how many such people are lurking here. The person at the center of this story was almost without question an obnoxious asshole and everyone who had to work with him is likely glad he's gone. Now they're being used as a pawn to further someone's white nationalist agenda.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I have seen this before

        "it's always someone else's fault."

        The rallying cry of the far left.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I have seen this before

        How ironic, you write endless gibberish complaining about discrimination and then proceed to lump all Trump voters into a single category.

  24. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Reason for firing

    If he was fired because of DEI targets, then this is a fair case. Indeed, choosing people based on race or gender IS discrimination, as much as people may want to use linguistic gymnastics to claim that it is not.

    On the other hand, as an anti-vaxxer and it sounds like a difficult all-around employee, and IBM having yet another round of layoffs, I could easily see him having just been fired for reasons not related to this at all. Or (I don't know how old he is) due to age (IBM has had multiple lawsuits about ageism, which is also unlawful at least here in the US, but is not what he or his lawyer(s) are alledging.)

    1. aerogems Silver badge

      Re: Reason for firing

      At an old job there was an engineer who just couldn't read the room. All day, every day, he'd be going on and on about how "at my old company, we did it this way and it was so much better!" Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the idea of continuous improvement, and he wasn't a bad guy, but instead of putting together a proposal to demonstrate how this method would be better, he just kept harping to people who have no agency to make those kinds of changes. So, eventually, when the company was conducting layoffs, he was the only engineer laid off, and no doubt it was just a convenient excuse because he'd been pissing off pretty much everyone around him.

      No doubt the people at Red Hat who had to work with the fuckwit at the center of this story are glad to be rid of him. Another job I had in the past involved a manager who was just a very difficult person to like. I could just say to customers, "I work for <Person>" and would instantly get this "Oh you poor bastard" look. Every time they went on vacation for a couple of days, the entire mood of the office changed. When the person was in the office it was very somber and no one talked to anyone else. When they were on vacation, everyone was out socializing with one another and it felt like you should break out the Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts. I imagine that's what things were like for people when they learned this fuckwit had been fired.

  25. Sparkus

    IBM is imploding....

    in so many different, and avoidable ways. It's almost as if the board and C suite are on a mission to dismantle and dissolve the thing with an eye toward maximum cash-harvesting.

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