Federal courts are facing an increasing number of lawsuits from employees claiming that their rights were violated when they were required to attend diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training. These suits have used various theories, including reverse race discrimination claims. Last week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals became the latest in a series of decisions rejecting claims of impropriety associated with such training.

Henderson v. Springfield R-12 School Dist. involved claims by two public school employees that their constitutional free speech rights were violated when they were required to attend equity training provided by their employer. They alleged that the training required them to retake an online test if their answers were deemed incorrect, and that they felt threatened and intimidated when the course presenter disagreed with comments they made during the session. The district court dismissed the suit and, in fact, awarded the school district over $300,000 in fees, concluding that the lawsuit was frivolous.

The Eight Circuit agreed with the dismissal, finding no violation of the plaintiffs’ rights. The employees were paid for the training, received continuing education credit, and suffered no plausible penalties associated with the training. Their subjective belief that they had been accused of being white supremacists was too speculative to support a claim of violation of their constitutional rights. The school district has a right to instruct and advise employees as to its policies through this type of training.

The court reversed the grant of attorneys’ fees, finding that the plaintiff’s claims, while unsuccessful, did not meet the legal standard for frivolity. Private sector employees generally cannot bring constitutional claims against their employers. To date, attempts by employees and interest groups challenging standard DEI training and policies have had little success in convincing courts of violations of legal rights.

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