The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit today against the State of Minnesota challenging Minnesota’s requirement that all state agencies implement sex- and race-based affirmative action plans and consider “affirmative action goals on all staffing and personnel decisions.” The State’s affirmative action program directs agencies to engage in employment practices that “balance” the sex and race composition of its workforce with the civilian labor force.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges that this affirmative action mandate discriminates against, limits, and classifies employees and prospective employees on the basis of their race and sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Because staffing is a zero-sum game,” the complaint states, “when Minnesota gives preferences to employees or prospective employees on the basis of their race, color, national origin, and sex, it inevitably and necessarily discriminates against other employees or prospective employees because of their race, color, national origin, and sex.”
While the U.S. Supreme Court previously sanctioned the consideration of race and sex in hiring for “traditionally segregated job categories,” the United States argues such outdated precedents are inconsistent with both the text of Title VII and subsequent Supreme Court caselaw.
“From suing over sanctuary city policies to a wide-ranging fraud investigation, today’s lawsuit is the Department of Justice’s latest effort to bring Minnesota into compliance with federal law,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Making hiring decisions based on immutable characteristics like race and sex is simple discrimination, and the Trump Administration has no tolerance for such DEI policies.”