The lawsuit would flop if there’s more men than women in the group being hired for, since it’s absolutely permissible to correct diversity imbalances.
(I am not your lawyer, this is not legal advice.)
(I am not your lawyer, this is not legal advice.)
DEI initiatives are about driving recruiting efforts and targeting towards underrepresented groups (e.g. having recruiters reaching out to qualified women, running recruiting drives at colleges with high minority populations, etc.) but the ultimate hiring decision cannot exclude anyone on the basis of a protected class.
- United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, 443 US 193 (1979)
- Johnson v. VTA; 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
I am also curious -- if this is the case, then why not state explicitly in the job req that men need not apply -- if there is no fear of legal consequences? Seems like that would have saved everyone a lot of time.
I guess the first part would be deciding how to measure diversity. Maybe put people into different buckets based on their skin color, sex, gender and disability status.
Then, the next part would be deciding if we want an even split or counts representative of the field (unless that's incorrect too) or maybe based on demographics.
Good thing you're not a lawyer and this not legal advice because what you're suggesting is in a legal gray area at best.