Penguin Random House - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Penguin Random House is High Risk.

Penguin Random House is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. Penguin Random House embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	High Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Penguin Random House notably canceled a book contract with historian Richard Cohen in 2021 for “not highlighting enough black figures.” Cohen made significant edits to include more of such figures, but the contract was still canceled (1)(2). Nonetheless, the company claims to take a stand against book banning (3)(4). The company has published various books that have been removed from Florida public schools due to inappropriate content; the company has sued the state (5).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Penguin Random House does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Penguin Random House offers unconscious bias training to its employees (1). The company does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2)(3).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Penguin Random House hosted its first-ever “company-wide read,” which was Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to be an Antiracist” (1). After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Penguin Random House “prepared a book list that includes titles on the history of abortion rights and the people who fought for them” (2). The company, with PEN America, filed a lawsuit against Florida School District for its removal of books regarding “race, racism, and LGBT identities” (3). The company has also published LGBT book collections on its website (4)(5). It opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (6).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Penguin Random House is a partner of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools initiative, a program that promotes LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and gender ideology in K–12 education. Through its “Let Kids Read” Training Grant program, Penguin Random House sponsored five Title I schools with free professional development trainings further embedding this programming into school systems serving minors (1). Out of Print Clothing, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, was a Champion Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Penguin Random House using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (7)(8).