*

Iowa AG Brenna Bird and Costco have recently met over the

company's DEI policies, AG and another person familiar say

*

Bird and 18 other AGs urged the retailer to drop its DEI

hiring

practices

*

The Republican-led state attorneys said the policies were

'unlawful discrimination'

By Isla Binnie

NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - Costco has had productive

discussions with Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird over the

retailer's diversity policies amid a legal onslaught against

those programs launched by President Donald Trump, according to

Bird's office and another person familiar with the talks.

Bird and 18 other GOP state attorneys general urged Costco

Chief Executive Ron Vachris in a letter in January to

end what they described as "unlawful discrimination ... through

diversity, equity and inclusion ("DEI") policies".

Since then, Bird, a co-leader of the letter, and the company

have had private discussions about its DEI hiring practices that

have not previously been reported, according to the person

familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because

the talks are private.

"Attorney General Bird had a productive meeting with Costco,

where the company reaffirmed its commitment to not

discriminating based on race," the Iowa attorney general's

communications director Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement to

Reuters.

Costco did not immediately return a request for comment

outside of regular business hours.

The attorneys general sent their letter about a week after

Trump ordered law enforcement agencies to identify companies and

groups that could be investigated for their DEI policies, which

proliferated alongside growing momentum in the Black Lives

Matter Movement in 2020.

It also followed a shareholder meeting at which 98% of

Costco shareholders voted against a proposal by a conservative

think tank that requested it to prepare a report on the risks

posed by the initiatives. The company's board had unanimously

recommended a vote against the proposal.