DEI
has
been
an
easy
scapegoat
for
poor
government
management,
unexpected
boat-bridge
collisions,
and
unwanted
orders
to
clean
out
your
cubicle.
Faced
with
the
door,
former
in-house
attorney
David
Farkas
sued
FirstEnergy
alleging
that
they
fired
him
for
asking
questions
about
the
company’s
DEI
initiatives.
As
it
turns
out,
the
reasons
for
his
dismissal
look
a
little
more
complicated
than
that.
Law.com
has
coverage:
A
jury
in
Cuyahoga
County
Court
of
Common
Pleas
found
that
lawyers
for
former
FirstEnergy
senior
counsel
David
Farkas
did
not
show
by
a
preponderance
of
the
evidence
that
the
Akron,
Ohio-based
utility
“intended
to
retaliate”
when
it
fired
him
in
2022.Farkas
alleged
he
was
axed
in
retaliation
for
having
repeatedly
expressed
concerns
about
the
electric
utility’s
DEI
program,
which
tied
annual
executive
bonuses
to
diversity-related
metrics.
…
FirstEnergy
said
Farkas
was
fired
for
“non-consensual
touching
of
a
female
colleague’s
rear
end,”
not
over
his
complaints
about
the
DEI
program.
FirstEnergy’s
case
was
helped
by
an
email
from
the
female
colleague
to
Farkas
that
read,
‘”Dude,
do
no
smack
me
on
the
butt
again.
Not
cool.”‘
While
the
unwanted
contact
happened
four
years
earlier,
FirstEnergy
was
not
made
aware
of
it
at
the
time.
They
only
found
out
about
it
because
she
mentioned
it
years
later
after
Farkas
accused
her
of
discriminating
against
him.
Harassing
a
company
for
their
diversity
metrics
only
to
get
fired
for
cause
because
you
grab-assed
a
member
of
a
protected
class
is
one
hell
of
a
“This
You?”
moment.
Couple
takeaways
here:
Don’t
go
out
of
your
way
to
manage
if
you
aren’t
a
manager,
keep
your
hands
to
yourself,
and
always
establish
a
paper
trail.
Attorney
Who
Claimed
Utility
Fired
Him
for
Objecting
to
DEI
Program
Loses
Jury
Trial
[Law.com]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.