Court rules Florida’s ‘stop-wake’ law restricting business diversity training is unconstitutional

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A federal appeals court has ruled that a Florida law pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that limits diversity and race-based discussion in private workplaces is unconstitutional. It was done.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Florida’s so-called “Stop WOKE” law applies to businesses and violates the First Amendment because it is unacceptably vague. Upheld a state federal judge’s August 2022 ruling.

“This law targets speech based on that content by limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive. And only speech that supports any of those ideas. “By banning it, we punish certain views, which is the greatest sin of the First Amendment,” Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant wrote for the court.

The governor’s office was considering further appeal options Tuesday.

“We disagree with the court’s view that employers can require employees to be taught that one race is morally superior to another,” the governor’s office said in an e-mail. stated in an email. And the state of Florida should have every right to protect Floridians from racially hostile workplaces. ”

The law prohibits educational or commercial practices that claim that members of one ethnic group are inherently racist and should feel guilty for past acts committed by other ethnic groups. . It also prohibits the notion that a person’s status as privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by race or gender, or that discrimination is acceptable in order to achieve diversity.

During his failed presidential bid, DeSantis frequently referenced the law, using the slogan that Florida is “the place to wake up and die.” Other parts of the law related to education have also been challenged, but not blocked.

Florida lawyers had argued that the law prohibited actions such as requiring employees to attend diversity meetings, not speech. The court disagreed.

“It’s bad to ban speech about a wide range of political topics, but it’s even worse to ban speech about a wide range of political viewpoints,” Grant wrote in his opinion.

The lawsuit, brought by Clearwater-based private organization Honeyfund.com and others, argues that the law requires corporate training programs that emphasize diversity, inclusion, anti-bias, and prevention of workplace harassment. They argued that the freedom of speech was being restricted because of the violation. Companies with 15 or more employees could face civil lawsuits over such practices. Honey Fund operates a marriage registration business.