A job listing for Kraft Sports + Entertainment has a potentially illegal job requirement.
Under skills and qualifications, the first requirement is “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Person of Color).”
The listing also says preference will be given to those from the “New England area or attended a New England area school.”
The job overview combines these points and lays out a picture of the desired candidate: “The goal of this program is to diversify the future of the sports and entertainment management industry by providing opportunity and access to BIPOC candidates connected to the New England community.”
The job listing, which was created on March 5, was still posted to ZipRecruiter’s website as of Friday afternoon.
“Under the laws enforced by EEOC, it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of that person’s race, [and or] color,” the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website reads.
The Dallas Express reached out to ZipRecruiter about the posting and received the following response:
“We’re in the process of removing the job posting as it violates our Terms of Use and/or Job Posting Rules. For more context, ZipRecruiter has an established Trust & Safety team and Job Quality team that review listings on accounts that are brought to their attention via a system flag or job seeker complaint.
“More specifically, the Trust & Safety team’s mission is to help create a safe and trusted marketplace for both our employers and job seekers. That team has both automated and manual tools to proactively identify accounts in our marketplace being used in an unauthorized manner and handle job seeker complaints about any specific account or job.”
Kraft Sports + Entertainment is a subdivision of the Massachusetts-based Kraft Group, owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
The job listing follows a recent bombshell analysis by Bloomberg and a series of battles over diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education.
Bloomberg revealed that only 6% of new jobs created in 2021 went to white applicants. Absolute figures were equally stark, with only 20,524 of the 323,094 positions created going to white candidates.
“The biggest shifts happened in less-senior job categories. White people held fewer of those roles in 2021 than they did in 2020, whereas thousands of people of color were added to the ranks,” the analysis reads. “But the trend continued up the job ladder in top, high-paid jobs, too: Companies increased their racial diversity among executives, managers and professionals.”
In the public sector, a battle has been underway in recent months to end the practice of subordinating hiring practices to DEI goals. Texas recently passed a statewide prohibition against DEI in higher education that took effect on January 1, 2024. However, enforcement and adherence to the law have seemingly been inconsistent.
Several Texas higher education institutions were identified by The Dallas Express for potentially posting unlawful DEI mandates in job descriptions.
Dallas College had 12 potentially illegal DEI mandates in the language of job descriptions. The University of Texas at Austin had several potential violations as well, as did Texas A&M and other major universities.
Alabama recently passed a similar bill defunding or reconstituting DEI departments, as previously reported by DX.
DX reached out to Kraft Sports + Entertainment but did not receive comment prior to publication.