White Oregon Worker’s DEI Policy Race Bias Suit Advances in Part

A worker who alleges the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies discriminated against White employees can pursue some of her claims, a federal judge said.

The White worker can’t pursue retaliation allegations against the state, but she plausibly alleged that the DEI trainings—and coworkers’ comments about White privilege—created a racially hostile work environment, the US District Court for the District of Oregon said Monday, partially overruling a magistrate judge’s recommendations on dismissal.

Plaintiff Danielle Johnson works for DEQ as a procurement and contract specialist. She alleges trainings held in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and ...