I have thought about leaving. My first goal is to confirm that I really understand what I'm observing. I don't want to resign because of a legal issue only to discover later that it's not actually illegal and I misread the situation.

I have no animosity for the company or the leaders. No desire to "take them down" or cause any drama. But avoiding drama definitely wouldn't be a reason to do something illegal imo.

Not wanting to violate labor law and anti discrimination regulations isn’t “causing drama”. It’s wanting to avoid civil and criminal repercussions, both against the corporation and individuals personally.

If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, report them to the US Dept of Labor/EEOC. I’d also recommend reporting them to the labor board in whichever state their headquarters is located (or what they consider their HQ if a remote org). To do nothing is to allow the unfair, abusive practice to continue. And if you do nothing, it will continue after you leave.

https://www.eeoc.gov/filing-charge-discrimination

https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discriminati...

I think they are just saying that they don’t have a positive motivation to “cause drama” and don’t have any vendetta against anyone which would motivate them to act against the company, but at the same time, that they don’t see “avoiding drama” as a reason enough to do an illegal thing asked of them.

I’m not sure quite what you mean when you say it «isn’t “causing drama”». It seems to me like some actions taken out of a desire to avoid violating labor law and anti-discrimination regulations, could result in people being upset with people, etc. which could be called “drama”. If you interpret “causing drama” as meaning, acting with a motivation of causing drama, then yes, as you say, acting with a motivation of avoiding violating [stuff] is not acting with a motivation of causing drama.

(I have no comment on what they should do; I imagine you are likely correct on that front, idk.)

I get the feeling OP doesn't want to end up in court if he follows the instruction in the spreadsheet.

OP is going to end up in court either way. Though getting burned for being a racist hiring manager is probably a better look in tech today than standing up against racist hiring practices and contacting the labor board to sue.

I'm reading OP as wanting to figure out what the consequences to them might be if they go along with this.

I'm not surprised that on HN, basic ethics is too much of an ask

"Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." It's reliably a marker of bad comments and worse threads.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: your account has repeatedly been posting flamebait and/or unsubstantive comments. Would you please stop that? It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for.