Apple and other tech companies urge U.S. Supreme Court to uphold affirmative action

Apple and a number of other companies have filed suit with the US Supreme Court in support of affirmative action programs being challenged at some universities. Apple and other companies say that “different groups make better decisions.”

As Bloomberg explained, the Supreme Court has to rule on two affirmative action cases. These will be the first affirmative action cases since the Conservatives won a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court.

In the recent cases Students for Fair Enrollment v. Harvard and Students for Fair Enrollment v. University of North Carolina, plaintiffs say that affirmative action not only hurts white applicants, but also constitutes “anti-Asian punishment.”

Along with Apple, companies such as Meta, Google, Lyft, Uber, Pinterest, Verizon and others. There are about 80 companies in the brief.

In a summary, the companies wrote that “diverse groups make better decisions” and result in “increased creativity, idea sharing, and accuracy.” The companies also note that “the benefits are not intangible” and that they are also “translated into business profits.

“Only in this way will America be able to create a stream of highly skilled future workers and business leaders ready to meet the needs of today’s economy and workforce,” the summary reads.

“Empirical research confirms that different groups make better decisions due to increased creativity, exchange of ideas and accuracy,” the companies said in support of the universities. These benefits are not just intangible; they turn into business profits.”

“While the benefits of student diversity are clear, they are all the more visible and compelling in the field of STEM, which has historically been marked by greater restrictions on diversity than most areas of study,” the summary reads.

This isn’t the first time Apple has put its name in support of affirmative action. Both Microsoft and Apple have signed affirmative action briefs in the past in states including Michigan and Texas. However, as Bloomberg notes, these companies risk backlash for their support of universities in these cases.

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