Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) this week to throw out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) lawsuits that were brought against police and fire departments around the country, accusing them of discrimination when hiring candidates, by the Biden administration.
Bondi directed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on Wednesday to dismiss federal civil rights lawsuits, arguing the prior administration “unjustly” went after fire and police departments for utilizing standard aptitude exams to comb through and help select their new employees.
“American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety – not to meet DEI quotas,” Bondi said in a statement.
When President Biden was in office, the DOJ filed lawsuits against several police and fire stations nationwide, looking to alter the written tests it said discriminated against Black applicants.
“Discriminatory employment tests do more than cost applicants a fair chance to compete for public service jobs like firefighting; they also prevent communities from being served in these crucial positions by the most qualified candidates for the job,” then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in October last year.
Biden’s administration settled with the Maryland State Police in October to alter the way applicants were tested for jobs following the DOJ’s claims the law enforcement station utilized a written exam that discriminated against Black applicants and a fitness test that discriminated against female applicants.
In the Wednesday news release, the DOJ said there was no evidence of “intentional” discrimination by the departments, only “statistical disparities,” adding the previous administration painted the aptitude tests of being at issue as a way to “advance a DEI agenda.”
The DOJ said the prior administration “sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring in response and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications.”
President Trump penned an executive order in January that ordered federal government agencies to end all “equity-related” contracts and grants.
