Seattle case study: Could city-run social justice programs permit racial discrimination?

Image by Jonathan Khoo

HSD employee Joshua Diemert tried suing the City of Seattle for promoting a discriminatory hostile-work environment through its Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI). Cities like SJ have similar internal programs. The Court ruled that equity-based programs are allowed to treat employees differently based on skin color, a problematic precedent unpacked by Reason magazine.

On December 23, 2020, Diemert filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Diemert amended this charge to include retaliation on January 16, 2023. Diemert also filed an additional EEOC charge on June 30, 2022, for discrimination he allegedly experienced between December 23, 2020, and September 7, 2021. ...

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Diemert alleges the City subjected him to a hostile-work environment because of his race. To succeed on this claim, Diemert must show (1) that he was "subjected to verbal or physical conduct because of [his] race," (2) that the conduct was "unwelcome," and (3) that "the conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of [his] employment and create an abusive work environment." "'The working environment must both subjectively and objectively be perceived as abusive.'" …

The City argues that Diemert cannot establish a hostile-work environment claim based on the RSJI because the program is aimed at educating the City's workforce about "historical atrocities, systemic bias, and white privilege," as opposed to a targeted campaign of harassment against Diemert in particular. The City frames its argument as a question of law, but offers no legal authority in support of its position. And given the standard of review, it would be inappropriate for the Court to consider any evidence outside the complaint about the operation and purposes of the RSJI to round out the record. The Court need not confront the issue at this time, however, because the City frames Diemert's alleged hostile-work environment claim too narrowly.

Here, it is clear on the face of Diemert's complaint that, beyond any problems he may have had with the RSJI, he alleges his co-workers and supervisors verbally and physically assaulted him because of his race. And that he was the target of potentially offensive comments and other abusive actions, also because of his race. Diemert alleges this conduct was unwelcome, and he has pleaded sufficient factual allegations showing a pattern of race-based harassment of a repeated, routine, or generalized nature that affected his ability to do his job. Whether there is any merit to his claims is an inquiry for another day, but for now, he has stated a plausible claim for a hostile- work environment based on race under Title VII and the WLAD [the Washington Law Against Discrimination].

This article originally appeared in Reason. Read the whole thing here.

Related:

• SJSU prof: New university prez pushing anti-intellectual “social justice re-education” agenda

• Why diversity programs often fail

• Foothills-De Anza CC analysis: The local Left demands complete conformity

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