A federal appeals panel has revived a white former Seattle employee’s racial harassment lawsuit tied to the city’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, saying a jury could hear his hostile-work-environment claims, according to The Post Millennial.
What the appeals court said
The Post Millennial reports that a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel reversed a lower court’s dismissal and ruled that the allegations, taken together, were serious enough to proceed to a jury. The outlet says Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia wrote that the alleged incidents—considered collectively—met the threshold for the claims to go forward. The panel included Chief Judge Murguia, Judge William A. Fletcher, and Judge Lucy H. Koh, all appointed by Democratic presidents, per the report.
What Diemert alleges
According to The Post Millennial’s summary of the Ninth Circuit’s account of the allegations, plaintiff Joshua Diemert worked in Seattle’s Human Services Department processing utility-bill assistance applications. He alleges years of workplace hostility that began during city racial-justice trainings and continued with supervisors and coworkers. The outlet reports that Diemert says a manager questioned what he could “offer the department as a straight white man,” coworkers labeled him a “white supremacist” after he challenged training content, and a supervisor allegedly accosted him, called him a “colonist,” and blamed his race for injustices in U.S. history.
The report adds that Diemert claims a coworker denied an eligible white applicant aid due to “white privilege” and told him it’s impossible to be racist toward white people. He also alleges a supervisor pressed him to relinquish a lead role so a person of color could be promoted.
How Seattle’s program is described
The Post Millennial links the allegations to Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative. The outlet reports the program separated employees into racially distinct training sessions—“Internalized Racial Superiority” for white employees and “Internalized Racial Oppression” for employees of color—and says trainers told participants that racism lives in white people’s DNA. These statements are presented as part of the allegations or program descriptions in the report.
Who else weighed in
The Post Millennial reports that the Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting Diemert’s claims.
What’s next
Per the report, the case returns to the district court for further proceedings, with a jury permitted to consider the hostile-work-environment claims.
