America First Legal (AFL) announced Wednesday that they were suing Red Hat, a subsidiary of IBM, for allegedly violating civil rights laws by enacting racially discriminatory DEI policies, an AFL press statement read.

AFL maintains that their client, Allan Kingsley Wood, was a Senior Director at Red Hat from 2015 to 2023 who had terrific reviews and was “on a fast track to becoming an executive,” according to the lawsuit. He was then allegedly subject to discriminatory treatment and terminated by these illicit policies.

Wood, a white male, was a vocal critic of the company’s policies that sought to mandate workforce quotas based on race and gender, the press release observes. The lawsuit recalls an event in Texas where the company allegedly rolled out its “Bold DEI Goals” that wanted their workforce to be 30 percent female worldwide and 30 percent “associates of color in the United States by 2028.” Wood, prior to his termination, “never received a negative review, was highly lauded, had a stellar record” and was on a leadership path, the lawsuit claims.

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This is not the only allegation that Red Hat was engaging in discriminatory practices. A whistleblower gave the O’Keefe Media Group alleged documents of the company’s “Allyship Commandments” in 2020 that codified 10 race-based commandments for its employees.

One rule was allegedly that “only WHITE people can be racist,” while another one was allegedly “never question the REALITY of our Black friends and colleagues.”

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