In Canadian folklore, the Wendigo is an evil creature that can possess humans and turn them into cannibals. Wendigos cannot control their bloodlust and will even eat their loved ones, according to facts.net. The term “Wendigo Psychosis” has been used to describe a psychiatric condition in which patients experience intense desires to eat human flesh.
And that brings us to Trump’s executive orders on DEI.
On Friday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a nationwide injunction that stalled enforcement of Trump’s DEI orders. The injunction was lifted for technical legal reasons, not because of policy reasons. In fact, two of the three judges wrote concurring opinions to show their support for DEI initiatives, even though they agreed the injunction should be lifted.
In one concurrence, Judge Albert Diaz expressed his frustration that they were unable to address the real substantive issue, referring to DEI initiatives (which he favors) as“a monster in America’s closet.” But hopefully not a Wendigo.
So how do the DEI orders affect independent contractors, and what should businesses do?
First, every business should be conducting an overall DEI audit right now. Programs and initiatives that overtly favor one group need to go. Scholarships and internships available only to certain racial or ethnic groups should be changed. Hiring quotas or targets must be removed. There’s a lot of gray area too, and there are a lot of things we are doing for clients in this area, but this post isn’t about DEI audits, so I’ll stop there.
Second, here’s what to look for with contractor relationships:
- Check your supplier retention policies.
- Eliminate any requirements to retain a certain percentage of minority or women-owned businesses.
- Remove contractor (or supplier or vendor) selection criteria that consider race or sex.
- Make sure that your supervisors who make retention decisions are not evaluated based on their performance in reaching targets to retain contractors based on race or sex.
- Check supplier and vendor contracts for staffing criteria that favor or disfavor any protected group.
The attack on DEI is real, and companies who rightly remain committed to ensuring fair opportunities for all need to evaluate how they are seeking to achieve these goals. The government has an appetite for consuming companies whose DEI initiatives go too far. Like the Wendigo.
© 2025 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.
Image from https://www.giantbomb.com/wendigo/3005-21605/images/