Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled a State Dept. diversity and inclusion officer over an email that alleges some potential hires have been discriminated against because they are “straight white men” who are “not of the ‘right’ religion.”
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Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the agency’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, denied knowing anything about the email during testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The email read in part:
Colleagues,
As we enter into another assignment cycle, we wanted to remind everyone that hiring decisions should never be made on the basis of protected EEO categories, including gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
Why are we raising this now?
Unfortunately, over the past several months, a number of people have reported comments that certain candidates could not be hired because:
they have a disability
they are white men
they are straight white men
they are not of the ‘right’ religion.
None of this is legal and none of it comports with Department regulations.
Sen. Ted Cruz
Cruz called the alleged email “deeply troubling” and wondering if not being of the “right religion” meant the State Dept. was discriminating against Christians.
Abercrombie-Winstanley affirmed that discrimination is against the law and that the State Dept. does not overtly breaking the law.
“Certainly there are members of our organization who do discriminate, who do harass, who do bully, which is why we are trying to put in place programs to address it and to strengthen accountability for those who do it, who break the law,” she said.
Watch the exchange below: