Telecom giant drops DEI committment for approval of $20B merger
Verizon has abandoned its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to secure federal regulatory approval for its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications.
The Federal Communications Commission praised the merger in a May 16 statement, noting it will expand internet access across 25 states, especially in rural areas, with Verizon committing to deploy fiber-optic access to at least 1 million homes annually.
The FCC also emphasized Verizon’s pledge “to ending DEI-related practices” and commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination as a key factor in its decision, aligning with the Trump administration’s recent executive orders targeting what it deems “illegal DEI” programs.
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Verizon Chief Legal Officer Vandana Venkatesh wrote in a May 15 letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that DEI policies “could be associated with discrimination.”
“Verizon has been evaluating its DEI-related programs, HR processes, supplier programs, training programs and materials, and other initiatives,” wrote Venkatesh.
“For that reason, Verizon reaffirms its commitment to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination and is modifying its practices and ending its DEI-related policies.”
The letter outlined specific actions, including Verizon “changing its HR structure” and elimination of any “team or any individual roles focused on DEI,” with affected employees reassigned to “HR talent objectives.”
Additionally, Venkatesh wrote that “Verizon is removing references to DEI or ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ from its employee training materials” and “has removed the supplier diversity metric from its management pay plan.”
“We recognize that the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) has changed. The Supreme Court, the President’s Executive Orders, and federal mandates require changes in the way companies approach DEI issues moving forward,” Venkatesh added.
“Verizon … will ensure that all training materials are focused on achieving the company’s core business objectives or compliance obligations and not on separate DEI objectives.”
It’s a dramatic turnaround for Verizon, which was one of more than 250 businesses that signed a letter in protest against Montana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and other pieces of legislation they argued would “unnecessarily single out already marginalized groups for more mistreatment, harassment, and discrimination.”
This retreat follows a pattern seen in other corporations, such as T-Mobile, which similarly scaled back DEI programs to gain FCC approval for its Lumos acquisition in March. The FCC, under Carr’s leadership, has intensified its crackdown on DEI, investigating companies like Comcast and Disney for allegedly promoting discriminatory practices.
Verizon’s decision reflects the impact of President Donald Trump’s January executive orders banning certain diversity programs among federal contractors and agencies, including directing all federal agencies to remove preferred pronouns from employee email signatures.
Trump also instructed departments to disable any email features that prompt or display pronouns, reinforcing his administration’s recognition that only two biological sexes exist.
Even before Trump returned to the White House in January, several U.S.-based corporations were already in the process of reevaluating their DEI policies in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling, which found that the admissions policies of the University of North Carolina and Harvard University that use race as a factor were unconstitutional.
