Federal appeals court blocks Florida’s Stop WOKE Act rule for businesses

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled unanimously to block a Florida law that prohibits companies from requiring employees to participate in workplace training that promotes diversity and inclusion, upholding a temporary injunction issued by a lower court. did.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in Monday’s decision that “it was a time when Americans held vastly different views on important areas of morality, ethics, law, and public policy. This is not the first time.” “And this is not the first time that these disagreements seemed so important, and the broadcasting of them so dangerous, that something had to be done. But even now , as always, the First Amendment prevents the government from making decisions.”

Florida officials have since introduced the Stop WOKE Act (Woke is an acronym for Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees), a bill aimed at combating allegations of indoctrination in schools and workplaces. I have been claiming that.

This law allows Florida educators and businesses to claim that members of one race or gender are “morally superior” to another race or gender, or that a person has the advantage of that race or gender. The Act prohibits requiring individuals to participate in activities that promote a “discriminatory concept” that constitutes illegal discrimination of “moral superiority.” Because of race, gender, or national origin, “achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion requires not being discriminated against or disadvantaged.”

“In Florida, we will not allow the far-left’s woke agenda to take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in the state of Florida.” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a frequent critic of the effort, said while signing the 2022 bill.

In June 2022, three Florida companies sued the state, and in August 2022, a federal judge blocked part of the law relating to private employers, saying the restrictions were unacceptably vague and required the U.S. Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court ruled that it violated free speech protections under Article 1 and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“Recently, Florida appears to have turned the First Amendment on its head,” District Judge Mark Walker wrote in his ruling. “Normally, the First Amendment prohibits the state from imposing burdens on speech, but private citizens are free to do so. But in Florida, the First Amendment prohibits the state from imposing burdens on speech. , private actors are prohibited from imposing burdens on speech, but states are free to impose burdens on speech.

In their appeal, the state’s lawyers argued that normal First Amendment scrutiny does not apply in this case because the law at issue restricts conduct, not speech. A three-judge panel on Monday said they disagreed.

“We disagree and reject this attempt to redefine and regulate speech as conduct,” the commission said. “Florida may be right about the nature of the ideas it deals with. Or it may not be. In any case, the superiority of these views will be determined not by norms or courts, but by the marketplace of opinion. That will be decided.”

Mr. DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Protect Democracy, a nonprofit representing Florida businesses challenging the law, celebrated Monday’s ruling as a victory for free speech in the workplace.

“There are no speech codes in American society,” Shalini Goel Agarwal, an advisor at Protect Democracy, said in a statement. There’s no need to censor it.”

“Forbidding employers from engaging in speech activities that powerful politicians dislike is a move that flies in the face of authoritarian strategy. Today is a good day for the First Amendment and corporate America to speak freely. ” she said.