Adidas promoted a black man because he was black, not because of merit, but because Adidas wanted to tally up some woke points. The decision by Adidas not only robbed employees of other races of an equal chance, but its gesture is highly insulting to blacks, who should be judged by competence, not race.
The only contribution Roland Auschel made was to cultivate division, insult black people and punish more potentially deserving employees. The black employee may not have even been aware that he was being fast-tracked on the basis of color.
“Adidas exec promoted black manager as ‘contribution to diversity’: report,” by Ariel Zilber, New York Post, November 30, 2022:
A longtime executive at Adidas told staffers he promoted a black employee to a managerial position so that the company can make a “contribution to diversity,” according to a report.
Roland Auschel, the head of sales at the Germany-based sports apparel maker, reportedly made the remark during a meeting with 200 managers in 2019, the Financial Times reported.
“It was completely inappropriate,” one employee who was at the meeting told FT.
Auschel’s comment spurred Adidas to launch a two-year investigation that ended with the high-paid exec keeping his job, according to FT.
The company told FT it hired “a reputable law firm” to probe allegations concerning “potential breaches of internal conduct guidelines” as part of a “comprehensive and independent” investigation….
