Lowe's becomes latest company to scrap DEI policies amid 'woke' backlash

Lowe’s ( LOW ) is scaling back some of its diversity initiatives, becoming one of the largest companies yet to make such an about-face as activist pressure mounts.

The home improvement retailer reportedly communicated a decision to stop participating in diversity surveys issued by LGBTQ civil rights advocate Human Rights Campaign in a memo to employees Monday.

Lowe’s also reportedly told employees in the memo that the company would stop sponsoring and participating in community parades, festivals, and fairs.

Similar changes discarding so-called DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives have been picking up momentum at major US corporations in recent months as critics target what they describe as "woke" policies.

In June, under pressure from shareholders, rural retailer Tractor Supply ( TSCO ) announced that it would retire its DEI goals. In July, tractor maker John Deere ( DE ) announced that it would continue to track workforce diversity but end participation in cultural and social awareness-focused events.

Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Foreman ( BF-A ), Polaris ( PII ), and its motorcycle subsidiary Indian Motorcycle have also scrapped DEI policies.

Lowe's reversal is the only one from a company run by a black CEO. Its boss, Marvin Ellison, is the only black executive to have run two Fortune 500 companies: Lowe's and JCPenney.

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck said in a post on X that Lowe’s and the other companies that discarded diversity initiatives did so after he communicated plans to "expose" woke policies.

“So far you’ve helped me change corporate policy at Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle and now Lowe’s,” Starbuck wrote Monday in a post on X.

Lowe's did not respond to Yahoo Finance's request for comment.

A US Supreme Court ruling last year has been cited as a factor in corporate decisions to alter diversity policies.

The court specifically ruled against race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, saying the programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Lowe's reportedly cited this ruling in its memo to employees, saying that it began reviewing its programs following that decision.

Ellison, Lowe's CEO, has diversified the executive ranks of Lowe's since becoming the boss and also had meetings with employees to discuss race following the police killing of George Floyd.

Ellison is also a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of more than 200 CEOs that posted an essay this month re-endorsing a stance that a company's purpose is to serve "all" stakeholders.

That philosophy adopted in 2019 includes shareholders, customers, employees, and suppliers, along with the communities where a company operates.

Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said that purpose has been misinterpreted as an endorsement for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives, which include DEI.

The ideological left and right both incorrectly interpreted the position to mean that companies had decided to commit resources to solving every societal ill, he added.

"Right from the beginning, there's been a fair amount of misunderstanding about what the statement was about," he said.

Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed .

Correction: A previous version of this article had a misspelling of Joshua Bolten's name. We regret the error.