DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

"There are many other law firms with similar racially discriminatory programs," Blum said in a statement. "It is to be hoped that these firms proactively open their programs to all law students before they are sued in federal court." The paid fellowships were designed in part to help support the recruitment of people of color, which major law firms have long struggled to add to their partnership ranks. Last year, people of color comprised 11.4% of all partners in major U.S. law firms, according to the National Association for Law Placement. The lawsuit alleged the fellowship program violated a Civil War-era law enacted to protect formerly enslaved Black people that bars racial bias in contracting.

Persons: Edward Blum, Morrison, Foerster, firm's, Edward Blum's, Perkins Coie, Blum, Blum's, Fearless Fund's, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Fair, Harvard University, Wednesday, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, National Association for Law, U.S, Supreme, Harvard, University of North, Thomson Locations: Boston, Dallas, Seattle, University of North Carolina

Circuit Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote granted a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights to temporarily block Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women. Blum's group asked the court to do so while it appealed a judge's Tuesday ruling denying it a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from moving forward with its "racially exclusive program." Fearless Fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment. According to the Fearless Fund, businesses owned by Black women in 2022 received less than 1% of the $288 billion that venture capital firms deployed. It also provides grants, and Blum's lawsuit took aim at its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses $20,000 in grants and other resources to grow their businesses.

Persons: Ben Crump, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Mylan Denerstein, Alphonso David, Eduardo Munoz, Edward Blum's, Blum's, Grant, Robert Luck, Andrew Brasher, Thomas, Donald Trump, Blum, JPMorgan Chase, Strivers, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Fund, REUTERS, Supreme, Circuit, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, U.S, District, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Harvard University, University of North, JPMorgan, Bank of America, MasterCard, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Atlanta, Texas, University of North Carolina, Black, Boston

U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash during a hearing denied a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights for a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women. Blum's group had asked the judge to temporarily block the Fearless Fund's "racially exclusive program" while the court considered the merits of the case. Fearless Fund founders Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons in a joint statement said they were pleased that Thrash rejected Blum's attempt to shut down their grant program. According to the Fearless Fund, businesses owned by Black women in 2022 received less than 1% of the $288 billion that venture capital firms deployed. It also provides grants, and Blum's lawsuit took aim at its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses $20,000 in grants and other resources to grow their businesses.

Persons: Edward Blum, Thomas, Edward Blum's, Blum, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Simone, Parsons, JPMorgan Chase, Strivers, Nate Raymond, Will Dunham, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Fair, Harvard University, Supreme, U.S, District, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, Circuit, Appeals, University of North, JPMorgan, Bank of America, MasterCard, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Atlanta, Texas, University of North Carolina, Black, U.S . Civil, Boston

Those lawsuits accuse all three of violating Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, a law enacted after the Civil War that guarantees all people the same right to make and enforce contracts "as is enjoyed by white citizens." "All of our nation's civil rights laws - including the 1866 Civil Rights Act - enshrine the command that someone's race and ethnicity must never be used to help or harm them in public and private employment and contracting," Blum, who is white, told Reuters in an email. FREE SPEECH ARGUMENTFearless Fund has brought in prominent lawyers to defend it, including civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Alphonso David, who during a news conference called Blum's use of the Civil War-era law "cynical." They argue that the rules for the grants are merely criteria for being eligible for a "discretionary gift" and do not create a "contract" subject to the civil rights law. Blum's group countered that Fearless Fund's argument would ironically undermine the very causes it favors by essentially invalidating Section 1981 and deeming racial discrimination protected by the First Amendment.

Persons: Edward Blum, Morrison, Foerster, Edward Blum's, Thomas, Fearless Fund's, Bill Clinton, Blum, Sarah Hinger, Hinger, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Arian Simone, Ayana Parsons, Blum's, Strivers, Ben Crump, Alphonso David, Nate Raymond, Alexia Garamfalvi, Will Dunham Organizations: Fair, Harvard University, Supreme, Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights, University of North, U.S, District, Democratic, Reuters, American Civil, Racial, Thomson Locations: Boston , Massachusetts, U.S, University of North Carolina, Atlanta, Black, Blum's Texas, Colorado, Boston

☆ After Supreme Court victory, anti-affirmative action group turns to military academy exemption
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Rachel Nostrant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Graduation cadets toss their hats into the air at the end of the 2023 graduation ceremony at the United States Military Academy (USMA), at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York, U.S., May 27, 2023. Edward Blum's group launched its new campaign with a website called West Point Not Fair on which it asks: "Were you rejected from West Point? Or the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy? The group is using the site to collect the names, contact information and stories of people who were rejected by West Point, the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy or who are planning to apply to those institutions. Dunlap added in an email to Reuters, "The Court rarely supplants its judgment for that of military leaders and especially, the elected branches of government."

Persons: Eduardo Munoz, Edward Blum's, Blum, Thursday's, Charlie Dunlap, Dunlap, Rachel Nostrant, Leslie Adler Organizations: United States Military Academy, REUTERS, U.S, Supreme, Fair, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Reuters, Department of Defense, Harvard University, University of North, Duke University, Air Force, Thomson Locations: West Point , New York, U.S, West, University of North Carolina

Search resuls for: "Edward Blum's"

5 mentions found