The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into the California Environmental Protection Agency, including the California Air Resources Board, to determine whether it discriminates based on race, sex, color, and national origin.
In publicly available guidance documents, CAL EPA highlights “hiring, promotion and retention practices and policies” that indicate it may be using protected characteristics to “advance racial equity.”
One division of California's EPA, appears to use these policies to engage in discriminatory employment practices in its “Racial Equity Framework,” which aims to advance race-based decision-making within the agency.
The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section is investigating whether the California Environmental Protection Agency is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, sex, and other protected characteristics, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
“Race-based employment practices and policies in America’s local and state agencies violate equal treatment under the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Agencies that unlawfully use protected characteristics as a factor in employment and hiring risk serious legal consequences.”
The letter cited a document entitled “Practices to Advance Racial Equity Workforce Planning.”
- Apply "a racial equity lens to every phase of workforce development" to achieve racebased workforce outcomes.
- Use "value statement practices" by adding "racial equity / core value statement[s]" to ensure "[p]otential job candidates will be aware of values held by the hiring agency, which helps normalize and advance racial equity."
- Engage in "screening practices" that account for "cultural competency and lived experience."
- Ensure that interview panels "reflect racial, ethnic, gender and other diversity as much as possible."
Practices to Advance Racial Equity in Workforce Planning.sw .Jh by scott.mcclallen
The investigation aims to determine whether the agency "is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination," Dhillon wrote.
"We have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation. We intend to consider all relevant information, and we welcome your assistance in helping to identify what that might be," Dhillon wrote. "We would appreciate your cooperation in our investigation."
A CalEPA spokesperson told Townhall in an email: "We are aware of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Aug. 27 announcement, and we are reviewing the notice."
The investigation follows a January 20 Executive Order from President Donald Trump that aims to end radical and wasteful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that are funded by the federal government. Since then, Trump's administration has targeted gender-affirming care for minors, DEI grants, and state climate lawsuits.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump's administration can cut $783 million in funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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