A Sunday tweet from billionaire Mark Cuban concerning hiring practices – and whether race and sex should be taken into account – drew a response from a federal official.
Cuban’s tweet that provoked the official’s response came after a lengthy exchange with the X, formerly Twitter, account The Rabbit Hole.
The account had challenged Cuban’s position on hiring practices, proclaiming its support for a "colorblind meritocracy."
Cuban said he had "never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, or religion." He then qualified that "race and gender" can sometimes be factored in if it meant putting his business "in the best position to succeed."
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Cuban asked The Rabbit Hole: "Now how would you propose finding organizations that give preference to white people?"
"Why aren’t you working as hard to show examples of white preferences as you are DEI? You claim to abhor both," Cuban tweeted.
DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, refers to internal policies in private companies and college campuses that aim to increase racial and ethnic representation.
Andrea R. Lucas, an official from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, responded to Cuban, calling him "dead wrong."
"@mcuban, EEOC Commissioner here. Unfortunately, you’re dead wrong on black-letter Title VII law. As a general rule, race/sex can’t even be a ‘motivating factor’ – nor a plus factor, tie-breaker, or tipping point," Lucas tweeted. "It’s important employers understand the ground rules here."
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Cuban responded by posting a video of a conversation between Lucas and a fellow EEOC commissioner on DEIA initiatives in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard. The landmark case ruled that race could not be a deciding factor in college admissions.
Cuban highlighted quotes that seemed to applaud the merits of DEI initiatives.
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"It’s a very interesting conversation that was hosted by the (Federalist Society)," he said. "The conclusion is that smart people can disagree on these issues."
Social media users continued to challenge the billionaire and former Dallas Mavericks majority owner, and Cuban eventually tweeted the following in response to a question about how he would respond directly to the EEOC's Lucas:
