What we know about Lockheed Martin claims has replaced white employees on the list of end -of -year bonuses with non -white colleagues

In June 2025, a complaint (archived) circulated online that aerospace company Lockheed Martin ordered managers to replace the names of white employees with those of ethnic minorities on a list of end -of -year bonuses.

(X user @basedsavannah)

An X user wrote: “Why would @lockheedmartin knowingly allow their human resources director to withdraw whites from the list of end-of-year bonuses and replace them with weaker minorities. Clear violations of civil rights and hateful racism. This should cost them billions.”

The complaint also appeared on Facebook (archive) And Reddit (archive).

It was born from a City Journal report, a publication of the conservative reflection group Manhattan Institute. The City Journal report was based on accounts of an anonymous denunciator and extracts from the company’s emails provided by this source. Snopes does not use anonymous sources, and we do not count on reports that count on them. SNOPES has not independently confirmed the account of the anonymous source City Journal used for its report, and we have not verified the authenticity of the correspondence included.

In a press release published on its website on June 12, the City Journal date published its report, Lockheed Martin said that the company was a “meritocracy” and that: “The allegations as reported arouse concerns that we take seriously and investigate. In the event that we determine that there were reprehensible acts, we intend to appropriately compensate employees who have been negatively affected and who will take decisive measures to deal with any fault. “”

We contacted Christopher Rofo, the author of the City Journal report, for any additional context on its source and how he established that the source is authentic.

We have also contacted the American Commission on Equality Employment Opportunities, which applies laws against discrimination in the workplace in the United States, to confirm if Lockheed Martin was covered by the laws it applies and if the EEOC had received complaints relating to the City Journal reports. An EEOC spokesperson said they couldn’t say if the committee had received such complaints.

The anonymous source told City Journal that they had submitted a list of names to consider for the end -of -year bonuses in high management has Lockheed Martin in December 2022. However, according to correspondence (archive)) seen (archive) And poster (archive) By RUFO, a director of human resources named Wanda Moower asked the source to add “POC” employees (a common abbreviation for people of color) to “Comp Adder”, a list of employees to receive end -of -year bonuses and delete an equivalent number of white employees.

City Journal reported that the anonymous source had tried to repel but ultimately “‘Exchange of 18 whites for 18 minorities, only on the basis of the breed “on the list.

According to the report of the City Journal, the anonymous source has since resigned from Lockheed Martin, citing the exchange of forced name in their letter of resignation.

The questions swirl around the legality of an alleged “exchange” “

The City Journal report has reached a large audience on X, with the owner of the Elon Musk Platform Commenting (archived) on a Rofo post that “It is illegal”.

In the United States, EEOC applies laws against discrimination and harassment and harassment. These laws include title VII of the 1964 civil rights law, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

According to the title VIIThe EEOC wrote: “In order to allege a colorful complaint of discrimination, workers only have to show” some injuries “or” a little harm “affecting their” terms, conditions or privileges “of employment”. An EEOC spokesperson explained that “terms, conditions or privileges” could include compensation.

Generally, the EEOC said that on its website, private companies like Lockheed Martin are covered by the laws that the Commission applies if they have more than 15 employees for at least 20 civil weeks per year.

The successful complaints carried by the EEOC lead to remedies such as the implementation of the victim of discrimination “in the same position (or almost the same) that he would have been if discrimination has never occurred”.

Appeals may also include compensatory damages to the victim and punitive interest to the employer.

It was not clear at the time of the drafting of this document if employees of Lockheed Martin had asked or received appeals for having been “exchanged” from a list of end -of -year bonuses. The EEOC editorial hall, where the Commission publishes proceedings and results relating to complaints, contained 10 lists concerning Lockheed Martin dating from 1996 at the time of the writing of this, but none since 2020.

Must lockheed martin

According to Lockheed Martin, the “majority” of business activities is with the US Defense Ministry and other American government agencies.

City Journal previously reported The fact that the senior employees of Lockheed Martin attended a “three -day diversity training program aimed at deconstructing their” white male culture “and encouraging them to atone for their” white male privilege “in 2020, during the first Trump presidency.

However, the company was clearly attentive to the change of tone around Dei measures under the second Trump administration. On January 23, 2025, Lockheed Martin said in a statement that he “took immediate measures to ensure continuous compliance and a complete alignment with the recent decree of President Trump. We will not have objectives or incentives based on a demographic representation or positive action plans.”

On May 22, 2025, the company added to the previous statement according to which it had “sunset permanently” her “Commercial resource groups and employee networks are organized on demography, identity or advocacy. “”

Sources:

“About Us.” Lockheed Martin, https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are.html. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“City Journal.” Manhattan Institute, https://manhattan.institut/city-journal.

“Cover of commercial / private employers.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/coverage-businessprivate-employers. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Executive order dei.” LOCKHEED MARTIN, https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/statements-speesches/2025/stainment-de-executif-order.html. Accessed June 13, 2025.

@elonmusk. “It’s illegal.” X, June 12, 2025, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1933278871463571512.

“Filing a complaint.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/YOUTH/FILING-c-Ognagine. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Writing.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/search. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Racial / color discrimination.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/youth/racecolor-discrimination. Accessed June 13, 2025.

@realchrisrufo. Disgusting: Lockheed Martin retains an employee spreadsheet by race, then instructs managers precisely how many whites they have to eliminate from the bonus list, even if these employees have performed better than their peers. June 12, 2025, https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1933213827296047461.

—. “Immediately afterwards, a human resources manager was more explicit, demanding that the team withdraw the whites from the list and replace them with minorities, admitting that” the increase in the POC for the compound added will result in an equal non-minority count. “” X, June 12, 2025, https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/193318966645985735.

—. “They really wrote this.” X, June 12, 2025, https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1933204154794848319.

“Remedies for employment discrimination.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/remedies-mployment-concimination. Accessed June 13, 2025.

Rofo, Christopher F. “The awakened-industrial complex.” City Journal, https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-woke-industrial-complex. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Declaration on past remuneration practices.” Lockheed Martin, https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/statements-speesches/2025/stainment-on-past-compensation-practices.html. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Title VII of the law on civil rights of 1964.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/statuts/title-vii-convil-rights-act-1964. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“What you need to know about discrimination related to Dei at work.” US EEOC, https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-bout-dei-lated-discrimination-Work. Accessed June 13, 2025.

“Whistleblower: Lockheed Martin awarded bonuses based on the race.” City Journal, https://www.city-journal.org/article/lockheed-martin-rivin-ghts-law-bonus-race-merit. Accessed June 13, 2025.