A lawsuit filed this week by Robert Steffens, a former high-ranking Marvel executive, has put Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies under further scrutiny. Steffens, who served as the chief financial officer and co-president of Marvel from 2015 to 2023, alleges that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek personally blocked his bid for a promotion, citing Steffens’ race and age as reasons for not awarding him the position.
According to the lawsuit, Steffens was up for the role of president of Disney Consumer Products in February 2022, but the job was instead given to a woman of “ambiguous ethnicity.” Isaac Perlmutter, the then-Marvel CEO, allegedly told Steffens that Chapek had specifically decided against promoting “another old white guy” to the position. This accusation has sparked outrage, with Steffens arguing that Disney’s decision was not only discriminatory but also part of a broader “woke” agenda to promote employees based on race rather than merit.
Steffens contends that these actions were “willful, wanton, malicious, intentional, oppressive, and despicable” and violated his rights.
Steffens’ allegations come at the same time as a broader shift at Disney, where DEI policies have been under fire from conservative critics and investors. The company recently shut down its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program, which aimed to feature more stories and talent from “marginalized” groups. This program, which sought to ensure that 50% of recurring characters across Disney’s franchises came from “diverse” communities, had sparked backlash in 2022 after a leaked Zoom call exposed executives discussing their “not at all secret gay agenda” and other controversial initiatives.
Disney initially doubled down on its DEI initiatives in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing diversity programs within the federal government. After Trump signed an executive order that sought to end diversity and inclusion training for federal agencies and contractors, Disney, among other corporations, insisted they would continue their efforts to promote diversity within their workforce and content. However, in a significant about-face, Disney decided to shut down the program following growing pressure from investors, who cited the negative impact they were seeing in the company’s bottom line.
The controversy surrounding Steffens’ lawsuit is part of a larger national debate on the role of DEI programs in both public and private institutions. President Donald Trump’s administration pushed for an end to DEI initiatives in federal agencies and their contractors, ushering a major shift. In the wake of this, some companies, such as Meta and John Deere, have rolled back their DEI initiatives, while others like Costco dug in their heels.
Last week, Target was hit with a class-action lawsuit after shareholders claimed that the retailer misled investors about the risks associated with its DEI initiatives, which some argued led to a decline in stock price and consumer boycotts.
READ NEXT: Musk Exposes Disney’s DEI Agenda
