Danielle Johnson is a highly-trained professional, with over twenty years of exemplary work—half of it in service to her community through public administration. Her employer recognized her strong abilities when it entrusted her with taxpayer dollars. In short, she is efficient, dedicated, and hard working. In our world today, that profile in government is in short supply.
Since 2018, Danielle has worked for the State of Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), where she handles large-scale contracts. Initially, she thought it was a fine organization to work for. But beginning in 2020—amidst a nation-wide wave of riots and violence—DEQ initiated an agency-wide push to infuse aggressive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) rhetoric and practices into every facet of its operations. Such ideologically motivated programs were pushed onto DEQ’s 700 employees, including Danielle.
Pushing Doctrine
Everything from official training to agency-wide e-mails, and even affirmative action plans, were riddled with DEI doctrine. Through them, DEQ made it crystal clear that individuals of certain racial demographics, including Caucasians, were disfavored. Other races, by contrast, would be treated with “support,” and would be “elevated” in hiring, promotions, and human resources. And it didn’t stop there, as DEQ also saw fit to repeatedly express its opinion that its employees were not individuals with unique characteristics and life histories, but rather were simply avatars of their respective races, whose characters were defined by the color of their skin.
Despite the intense pressure coming from her employer, Danielle was brave enough to speak up to challenge DEQ’s unlawful practices. When Danielle spoke up, however, DEQ retaliated.
Case Background
The US Constitution and federal law prohibit racial discrimination, requiring individuals to be treated equally regardless of their skin color. When the Department of Environmental Equality initiated its DEI protocols, it created a racial spoils system, rewarding certain races over others.
Danielle—who has worked with thousands of different people over her long career —knows that DEQ’s discriminatory practices are unlawful, unconstitutional, and immoral. In 2023, DEQ spent more than half a million dollars of taxpayer dollars on a DEI consultant to come up with ideas on further entrenching the racial spoils system. Among their proposals, the firm recommended treating people differently on the basis of their race, as well as a racial quota for hiring and promotion—a method that the Supreme Court in other circumstances has struck down as violating the core tenet of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
When she heard this idea in a meeting of about 150 fellow employees, Danielle raised the obvious issue: were the consultants’ proposals unlawful? Isn’t it illegal to treat employees and applicants differently based on the color of their skin?
Retaliation
Instead of addressing her concern, the consultants and her supervisors swiftly condemned the very question itself. “You’re creating harm,” they said, by just asking that question aloud. Not once did anyone provide legal rationale for the idea.
For arguing the principles articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr., Danielle was silenced.
A few days after this mass meeting, DEQ aggressively moved against Danielle by publicly defaming her. In an agency-wide email to the entire staff of 700 employees, the managers branded Danielle as a racist. They then demoted her, reduced her pay, and subjected Danielle to a sham investigation for her “harmful” comments.
For speaking up for equality and the Constitution, DEQ tried to shame and punish Danielle. This is retaliation for her free speech. By railroading her reputation and career, DEQ is guilty of not only racial discrimination, but also unconstitutional suppression of speech.
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What’s at Stake
Danielle is a highly principled woman, unwilling to “go along to get along” when she knows that something isn’t right. She is concerned for her future and the well-being of her family, and reached out to Mountain States Legal Foundation for help.
We filed a suit against DEQ to cease its illegal suppression of Danielle’s viewpoints—and all other similar employees—when they speak up about important topics. Specifically, we seek an injunction restoring Danielle’s professional standing, and prohibiting DEQ from doing anything like this ever again, along with compensation for the damage done to Danielle’s reputation.
This lawsuit, though, is bigger than Danielle or even Oregon.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, holding that that “eliminating race discrimination means eliminating all of it,” DEQ hasn’t gotten the message. It remains committed to the ideology of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It continues to dole out jobs and promotions to favored racial groups and traffics in offensive racialized doctrines in its trainings and communications.
Worse, there are thousands of other municipal, state, and national bureaucratic agencies that engage in similar DEI practices. They need to know that their unconstitutional ways are no longer safe. And they have to realize that punishing people like Danielle will not go unanswered. We’ve taken up this case as part of our unwavering support for both free speech and the right to racial equality for all Americans.
Case Timeline
- September 2020: As part of a massive new DEI push, DEQ hired an outside DEI consulting firm, ultimately spending more than half a million dollars of taxpayer dollars, and counting.
- Ongoing: DEQ employees are subjected to almost continuous official messages denigrating disfavored racial groups
- July 2023: Consultants hosted a meeting proposing initial discriminatory practices. Danielle spoke up.
- DEQ defamed Danielle in agency-wide email, demoted her, and opened a sham investigation
- February 2024: Mountain States filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction restoring Danielle’s position and pay, ending the investigation, and just compensation for damages to her reputation.
