Overview
- The Civil Rights Division’s complaint contends Minnesota requires agencies to set race and sex hiring goals and factor them into all staffing decisions in violation of Title VII.
- The DOJ argues that because hiring is a zero-sum process, any preference by race or sex necessarily disadvantages other applicants.
- The filing cites Minnesota DHS procedures that block offers to non-underrepresented candidates without Equal Opportunity sign-off and require interviewing and documenting reasons for passing over underrepresented applicants.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi and Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet K. Dhillon describe the suit as the next step after the Supreme Court’s college admissions ruling and part of ending government DEI preferences.
- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office said the state will respond in court as the case proceeds alongside other ongoing federal actions in Minnesota.