Seattle Must Face White Ex-Employee’s Claims Tied to Anti-Racism Training

A US appeals court has revived a former Seattle city employee’s claim that a mandatory anti-racism program drove his coworkers and managers to harass him for years ​and deprive him of job opportunities because he is white.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on ‌Monday largely upheld a judge’s dismissal of Joshua Diemert’s 2022 lawsuit, but said that a series of alleged incidents over a six-year period were enough to support hostile work environment claims.

Diemert worked at Seattle’s Human Services Department, where he reviewed applications for a utility discount program. He says a city-wide workplace initiative divided employees by race and created a hostile environment for white people.

Diemert ​claims he was discouraged from applying for a promotion and told it was impossible to be racist toward white people. He says he was called ​a “colonist” with white privilege and criticized for defending bans on critical race theory.

The court said that taken together, the incidents amounted ⁠to the “severe or pervasive” conduct that can be evidence of a hostile work environment under the federal and Washington state laws banning workplace discrimination.

If proven at ​trial, “the evidence presented by Diemert … would show that Diemert was subjected to a series of racially offensive statements and generalizations bearing little or no connection to legitimate training ​efforts,” Circuit Judge Mary Murguia wrote.

Murguia was joined by Circuit Judges William Fletcher and Lucy Koh. All three judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.

{snip}

Diemert began working for the city in 2013 and says he was periodically required to attend ‌race-focused meetings ⁠and trainings under the umbrella of the Race and Social Justice Initiative, a program launched by the city in 2004.

Diemert says the meetings included discussions about white supremacy and white privilege and that during the meetings he was called racist and told white people were inherently racist and were “the devil,” among other comments. He also claims he was told he was preventing a person of color from being promoted by not giving up a leadership role within the department.

Diemert resigned in 2021 and sued ​the city the following year, alleging race ​discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment ⁠in violation of federal and state laws. He also accused the city of violating his right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.

{snip}

US District Judge Jamal Whitehead dismissed the entire lawsuit last year, finding that the conduct alleged by Diemert was not severe or pervasive enough to back up his hostile work environment claim.

The 9th Circuit on Monday agreed with Whitehead that Diemert had failed to state claims for retaliation, constructive discharge or a ⁠violation of ​his equal protection rights, but said the hostile work environment claim should move forward.

{snip}