In the letter, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, Andrea Lucas, the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and attorneys general from states such as Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama, West Virginia, and Ohio, were cc’d.
The letter from Consumers’ Research attorney Tyler Green noted that an attorney for Nationwide had contacted Consumers’ Research and Fox News Network, “on behalf of Nationwide” after Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild appeared on two segments talking about how “certain companies who have publicly said they’re abandoning their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are instead merely rebranding those efforts as ‘belonging’ initiatives.”
“Nationwide Insurance was mentioned during those segments as one company rebranding its DEI efforts as ‘belonging’ ones,” the letter added. “As I understand it, your main objection to the segment was a combination of Nationwide’s logo being displayed on the screen while Mr. Hild said that companies ‘like these’ were rebranding their DEI departments in order to continue their programs of discrimination under a new name.”
The letter comes after Consumers’ Research claimed that companies such as Kohl’s, Dollar Tree, UPS, and Nationwide had rebranded their DEI policies under different names, according to Fox Business.
In a statement to the outlet, Hild explained that it was “the same racism under a different name.” Hild added that “rebranding from DEI doesn’t change the anti-White and anti-Asian nature of these activities.”
“I also understand that you contacted not only Consumers’ Research but also Fox Network itself on behalf of Nationwide,” the letter continued. “In doing so, you sought from both Consumers’ Research and Fox, through heavily implied threat of litigation, some sort of retraction or clarification related to those segments and statements.”
Green continued to note in the letter that Consumers’ Research was declining to issue a retraction or clarification, adding that Nationwide “has repeatedly reaffirmed that DEI is in its DNA and its actions.”
“In fact, Nationwide has engrafted DEI initiatives or goals throughout its business — in hiring, partnerships, supplier relationships, and charitable giving, just to name a few,” the letter continued. “And no evidence suggests that Nationwide’s scattered public changes to those practices do anything but change how Nationwide labels those practices.”
The letter pointed out how DEI was found in Nationwide’s hiring practices, partnerships, suppliers, and the company’s charitable giving, among other examples.
“Just last year, Nationwide reaffirmed that a ‘diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce and workplace is critical of Nationwide’s success,’” the letter said, adding that the company had “helped created” an organization called the Financial Alliance for Racial Equity (FARE) to “further those race-conscious hiring priorities.”
“FARE’s mission is to close the wealth gap by increasing racial diversity, driving greater equity and fostering inclusion within the financial services industry and the communities they serve,” the letter added.
The letter also noted how Nationwide “boasts of ‘strategic partnerships’ with 17 organizations or entities committed to DEI purposes.”
“For example, Nationwide partners with the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, which produces every year the HACR Corporate Inclusion Index—a ‘corporate accountability survey that assesses companies’ Hispanic inclusion efforts and outcomes,’ with ‘a focus on Employment, Procurement, Philanthropy, and Governance,’” the letter continued.
“Nationwide also partners with Black Enterprise, which earlier this year published an article urging policymakers not to ‘reduc[e] funding or eliminat[e]’ DEI ‘initiatives,’ but to ‘focus on improving transparency, accountability, and efficiency’ so that DEI programs become ‘better aligned with their intended outcomes, ensuring that resources are directed to those who need them most, including Black-owned businesses that continue to face systemic barriers,’” the letter added.
The letter also noted that prior to April 2025, the company’s website “described a ‘Supplier Diversity’ program,” which had a goal of fostering “the promotion, growth and development of minority, women, LGBT, and veteran-owned enterprises.”
“Nationwide’s Office of Supplier Diversity focuses on contracting with, educating, investing in and mentoring diverse suppliers,” the letter continued. “In 2024, Nationwide reported that its supplier diversity program ‘resulted in Nationwide’s suppliers spending over $43 million on diverse suppliers in a 12-month period.’”
In a statement exclusively to Breitbart News, Hild explained that Nationwide was “resorting to thuggish legal threats because they know they can’t deny they’re knee deep in discriminatory DEI.”
“Consumers’ Research has the facts on our side, and we will never be intimidated from telling the truth on behalf of consumers,” Hild said in his statement. “As long as companies like Nationwide continue to support discriminatory practices and organizations that are both racist and unlawful, they should expect no quarter just because they talk tough in the shadows. By their own admission, DEI ideology is ingrained in Nationwide’s hiring, partnerships, supplier relationships, and charitable giving. A simple rebrand is not real change. Organizations that do not follow the law deserve proper scrutiny, and Nationwide is not owed a special exemption. If this episode proves anything about Nationwide, they are NOT on your side.”
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