Affirmative action on Wall Street
 

Interesting.

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A little-noticed section of the Wall Street reform law grants the federal government broad new powers to compel financial firms to hire more women and minorities ? an effort at promoting diversity that?s drawing fire from Republicans who say it could lead to de facto hiring quotas.

Deep inside the massive overhaul bill, Congress gives the federal government authority to terminate contracts with any financial firm that fails to ensure the ?fair inclusion? of women and minorities, forcing every kind of company from a Wall Street giant to a mom-and-pop law office to account for the composition of its work force.

Employment law experts say the language goes further than any previous attempt by the U.S. government to promote diversity in the financial sector ? putting muscle behind federal efforts to help minority- and women-owned firms gain access to billions in federal contracts.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40313.html

Actually, those "fair inclusion" provisions are standard boilerplate for many federal contracts. This used to be contested ground but since the SCOTUS cleared up the clouds left by the BAKKE case, it's pretty much settled law and standard practice in federal contracts.

Women belong in the kitchen or bedroom, not the boardroom.