Before making any kind of judgment, I would want mor clarification as to what type(s) of “widespread discrimination” occurred. I require specific information and/or allowable details to determine how I would feel or act. Facing a lawsuit or being in the middle of/and fighting a lawsuit are different to me. Though I would not be happy with any allegation of discrimination or civil rights violations, simply reading about something is not going to make me do much more than research the situation. It could be far-fetched, but there have been instances where frivolous lawsuits occur.
There would need to be much more than one news article documenting the discrimination for me to be more than “interested” in the report, and the newspaper reporting the story would have to be one that is known for reporting reliable source of information. It does not make sense for me to either support or oppose the company concerning the information in the report without more information. I do not want anyone to suffer, nor do I want anyone to be discriminated against, but I am not going to judge anyone, or anything based on a news article.
If proven guilty, I would never trade with the company in question again, and I seriously doubt I would ever apply to work for a company proven to have widely stomped on individual’s civil rights. It is important to note that I am not reactionary and want to hear and/or see proof before accusing someone or something of wrongdoing.
As a side note, I have stopped doing business with one company that was sued (and lost) for discrimination based on people’s ethnicity and culture. It was blatant and the evidence was well documented.