The Justice Department has reached a settlement with PayPal after targeting the payments platform over a business program aimed at supporting Black and minority-owned small businesses. Under the $30 million settlement, PayPal will launch a new small business initiative that doesn’t include even a fraction of the diversity, equity and inclusion language despised by the current administration.
The program at the DOJ was funded by the Economic Opportunity Fund, which PayPal launched in 2020. The effort planned to invest $530 million in Black and minority-owned businesses, particularly those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. “For too long, Black people in America have suffered deep injustice and systemic economic inequality,” PayPal CEO and Chairman Dan Schulman said at the time. “PayPal is uniquely positioned to help in this area, and we are committed to doing our part to address unacceptable racial divides by advancing a more just economy and society.”
Instead of continuing that work, PayPal will now waive processing fees on $1 billion in transactions for good old American small businesses that come with government-approved credentials. This includes veteran-owned companies and companies engaged in farming, manufacturing or technology.
We have started to see other settlements as the Justice Department is extorting money from organizations that run DEI programs. For example, IBM agreed to pay more than $17 million last month to settle agency allegations that “race, color, national origin, or sex” played a role in its hiring programs. The offending programs included setting “race and gender demographic targets for business units” and “using a diversity modifier that tied bonus compensation to achieving demographic targets.” Neither PayPal nor IBM admitted any wrongdoing.
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