Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
MSLF Communications Dept.
Stanton Skerjanec & Carina Constancio
(303)-292-2021
OREGON RETALIATED AGAINST A PUBLIC EMPLOYEE JUST FOR DEFENDING RACIAL EQUALITY
MSLF has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality for retaliating against employees who spoke out against discrimination and unlawful “DEI” practices
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (February 16, 2024) —Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is obsessed with race, under the guise of aggressive “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) rhetoric. It has inserted racial rhetoric and practices into nearly every facet of its operations. Such ideologically motivated programs were pushed onto DEQ’s employees, including MSLF client Danielle Johnson.
When Danielle spoke out against DEQ’s unlawful racial spoils system at her workplace, the agency retaliated against her by branding her a racist in an e-mail to 700 fellow employees, demoting her, reducing her pay, and subjecting Danielle to a sham investigation for “harmful” comments. It did so because it wanted to send a message that employees shouldn’t express their view unless it conformed to DEI orthodoxy.
Now, Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) has filed a suit against DEQ to force it to respect the First Amendment and to repair the damage it has done to Danielle and her workplace.
In addition to the free speech issues, DEQ has also increasingly made employment decisions on the basis of race, explicitly rejecting considerations such as merit, fitness for the job, and the needs of Oregon taxpayers. As the Supreme Court recently re-affirmed, however, such efforts at “racial balancing” by government actors are patently unconstitutional. Yet despite knowing that its actions were unconstitutional, DEQ plowed ahead.
Even worse, to support its system of dolling out opportunities on the basis of race, DEQ trafficked in the most blatant racial stereotyping, claiming for example, that white employees were invariably bigoted, and that any successes in their lives were solely due to unfair “privilege” and not their hard work and talent. These and other opinions—always presented as if they were undeniable facts—created a deeply hostile work environment for all employees.
In 2023, DEQ spent more than half a million dollars of taxpayer dollars on a consultant to further push DEI. The consultant not only repeated and reinforced DEQ’s racial stereotyping, but it also recommended ratcheting up DEQ’s racial quotas for hiring and promotion. 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 at a meeting of her colleagues, however, DEQ retaliated.
Danielle is a highly principled woman, unwilling to “go along to get along” when she knows that something isn’t right. MSLF seeks an injunction restoring Danielle’s professional standing and prohibiting DEQ from doing anything like this ever again, and compensation for the damages to Danielle’s reputation. This lawsuit, though, is bigger than Danielle or even Oregon.
There are thousands of other municipal, state, and national bureaucratic agencies that are engaging in similar DEI practices. They need to know that their unconstitutional ways are no longer safe. They must also realize that punishing courageous people like Danielle Johnson will not go unanswered. Mountain States has taken up this case as part of our unwavering support for both equal protection and the free speech of all Americans.
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Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) is a nonprofit, public-interest legal foundation established in 1977. MSLF is dedicated to individual liberty, limited and ethical government, and second amendment rights. MSLF defends its clients through pro bono litigation, primarily against the federal government, in defense of constitutional liberties and the rule of law. With its litigation MSLF seeks victory for its clients at the highest level possible, establishment of binding legal precedents to benefit millions of Americans, and education of the American public on the threat to their liberties that unrestrained government presents.