Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban embroiled himself in a scandal in the past two weeks over his vociferous defense of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies that he harnesses within his organization.
Cuban, who is no stranger to speaking his mind on numerous topics unrelated to basketball, took to X, formerly Twitter, to defend his belief in DEI.
He even took on the owner of the platform, Elon Musk, who equated DEI to “legalized racism.”
Cuban didn’t back down.
“I’ve never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, religion. I only ever hire the person that will put my business in the best position to succeed,” he wrote, “And yes, race and gender can be part of the equation. I view diversity as a competitive advantage.”
His claim drew the attention of the former commissioner for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who informed Cuban that he was breaking federal law if he was basing his hiring — even in part — on race and gender.
“EEOC Commissioner here,” Commission er Andrea R. Lucas wrote in her Jan. 29 post to Cuban. “Unfortunately, you’re dead wrong on black-letter Title VII law. As a general rule, race/sex can’t even be a ‘motivating factor’—nor a plus factor, tie-breaker, or tipping point. It’s important employers understand the ground rules here.”
Cuban did not immediately respond to the rebuttal.
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