Overview
- On July 10, the Civil Rights Division informed Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and DHS leaders that it has opened a Title VII investigation into the department’s hiring justification policy.
- The policy requires supervisors to explain any decision to hire a non-underrepresented candidate in roles where protected groups are underrepresented and threatens disciplinary action up to termination for noncompliance.
- The Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section will assess whether Minnesota engages in a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
- State officials, including DHS interim commissioner Shireen Gandhi, assert the policy complies with state and federal law and point to a Minnesota statute from 1987 that mandates such justifications.
- The probe follows other administration actions targeting state DEI initiatives, including civil rights reviews of university hiring and legal challenges to Minnesota’s tuition benefits for undocumented immigrants.