California Public Utilities Judge Seeks Diversity Goals in Verizon Merger

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2025 – A California Public Utilities Commission judge is recommending the agency approve Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, but only if the company accepts new diversity requirements. 

Verizon has told the CPUC it is worried that more diversity conditions could put the company on a collision course with the Federal Communications Commission and its Chairman Brendan Carr, who has required companies to ditch initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion before approving mergers.

The judge’s decision, if adopted by the CPUC, would impose a slate of conditions with extra DEI requirements, even as Verizon has already agreed with the FCC to no longer maintain any workforce or supplier diversity goals.