South Carolina Back-to-Office Order Draws Suit Over Equality (1)

An order by South Carolina to return state workers to their offices will disproportionately harm women, people with disabilities, caregivers and Black people who are already bearing the brunt of the pandemic, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a lawsuit challenging the plan.

Governor Henry McMaster exceeded his authority with the executive order, which requires state agencies to “immediately expedite” the return of non-essential state employees to in-person work, the ACLU said in a complaint filed Monday in state court in Columbia. The Republican governor’s order also scraps South Carolina’s mask mandate for state buildings, putting the health ...