The Division of Justice (DOJ) has opened an investigation into Minnesota to find out if the state, together with the Minnesota Division of Human Companies, has engaged in race and sex-based discrimination in its hiring practices.
“Our investigation is predicated on info that Minnesota could also be engaged in sure employment practices that discriminate in opposition to staff, job candidates and coaching program contributors based mostly on race and intercourse in violation of Title VII,” DOJ’s Civil Rights Division head, assistant Lawyer Basic Harmeet Ok. Dhillon, wrote in a Thursday letter to Minnesota Lawyer Basic Keith Ellison (D) and Minnesota Division of Human Companies’ short-term commissioner Shireen Gandhi.
“Particularly, we’ve motive to imagine the Minnesota Division of Human Companies is participating in illegal motion by means of, amongst different issues, the adoption and forthcoming implementation of its ‘hiring justification’ coverage,” Dhillon mentioned within the 2-page letter.
The Minnesota Division of Human Companies rolled out a brand new policy earlier this month, requiring supervisors to offer a “hiring justification when in search of to rent a non-underrepresented candidate when hiring for a emptiness in a job class with underrepresentation.”
The Trump administration has cracked down on range, fairness and inclusion (DEI) efforts, arguing it’s discriminatory in opposition to Asian and white folks.
Minnesota’s Division of Human Companies told The Related Press that it “follows all state and federal hiring legal guidelines,” including that the justification for “non-affirmative motion hires for some vacancies has been required by state legislation since 1987.”
Trump and his allies have butted heads with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who was former Vice President Harris’s working mate in 2024 and who has since criticized the administration’s decision-making. Ellison has additionally filed lawsuits in opposition to the administration.
Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi mentioned in a press release on Thursday that Minnesotans “should have their state authorities staff employed based mostly on benefit, not based mostly on unlawful DEI.”