For Uber, it’s time to get either new lawyers or new executives, because its new “Women Preferences” policy is obvious sex discrimination that violates the law. If we owned stock in the company, we’d sell it to avoid a loss from the big-dollar lawsuits that are sure to ensue for this ham-fisted “equity” scheme.
Recently, Uber <a href="https://www.uber.com/newsroom/women-preferences/">announced</a> that in the interests of making its “platform better for women,” it is implementing a “Women Preferences” pilot program that will give women riders &#8220;more ways to choose rides with women drivers&#8221; and women drivers the option “to request trips with women riders, including during peak earning hours like evenings.” In other words, Uber will be empowering its drivers to ignore, that is, discriminate against, male riders. Kind of reminds one of a time when taxi drivers all too often sped up and drove past black residents trying to hail them for a ride. Now, such conduct is prohibited by law.
The only difference between the racist taxi drivers of old and the sexist Uber drivers of new is that the digital “drive-by” discrimination is based on sex instead of race. But both are prohibited under the law.
Uber’s announcement claims this new policy is “designed to give women riders and drivers more choice, more confidence, and more flexibility.” However, “more choice, more confidence, and more flexibility” does not provide a company with a license to violate state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
Uber also brags in its announcement that it started this program in, of all places, Saudi Arabia. You know, one of the world’s most discriminatory countries, where women are treated as second-class citizens.
Yes, you read that right. Uber started its “Women Preferences” pilot program in the unenlightened Middle Eastern nation only after Saudi Arabia finally gave women the right to drive in 2019. That’s a remarkable delay, given that the first woman to be <a href="https://transportationhistory.org/2022/03/02/women-in-transportation-history-anne-rainsford-french-bush-automotive-pioneer/">issued</a> a driver’s license in the District of Columbia (Anne Rainsford French) received it in 1900. But what more would one expect from a nation that didn’t grant women the right to vote for the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35075702">first time</a> until 2015?
Uber’s lawyers seem to need a refresher on the law.
As a company incorporated in California, Uber is subject to the state’s <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&amp;sectionNum=51">Unruh Civil Rights Act</a>, which prohibits discrimination by all business establishments open to the public in California. Among others, it applies to hotels, restaurants, stores, theaters, taxis, and yes, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. California-based businesses that serve the public must treat everyone equally — regardless of their race, religion, sex, or disability, among other protected characteristics.
What’s more, federal law — the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act">Civil Rights Act of 1964</a> — prohibits discrimination in public accommodations as well. And while sex is not a protected category under Title II of the Civil Rights Act (like race is), Title VII of that same Act prohibits sex discrimination and harassment in employment contexts. That means that male Uber drivers who are not provided with the same sex-selective rider options as their female colleagues may have a claim for discriminatory treatment under that federal law, as well.
This isn’t the first time that the rideshare company has been accused of violating civil rights law. In 2017, Uber <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/uber-pay-44-million-resolve-eeoc-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation-charge#:~:text=The%20pre%2Dlitigation%20agreement%20was,retaliation%20after%20January%201%2C%202014.">agreed</a> to pay out $4.4 million in fees to settle a class-action lawsuit charging that the company had failed to adequately address sexual harassment by its drivers against female passengers. The same year, Uber software engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post that went viral in which she <a href="https://time.com/5784464/susan-fowler-book-uber-sexual-harassment/">accused</a> the Silicon Valley-based company of sex discrimination and harassment — both violations of Title VII.
And in 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Uber, alleging that the company had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging wait time fees to riders with disabilities who took longer to get in Uber vehicles. Uber eventually agreed to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/uber-commits-changes-and-pays-millions-resolve-justice-department-lawsuit-overcharging-people#:~:text=(Uber)%20to%20resolve%20a%20lawsuit,discriminatory%20fees%20due%20to%20disability.">settle</a> the lawsuit, and paid millions in compensation to affected riders.
Uber’s new policy also allows riders to “select the ‘Women Drivers’ option when requesting a ride.”
If you want to avoid a taxi, bus, train, or airplane because you don’t like the race or sex of the driver or pilot, you can do that. While that might evidence questionable moral beliefs, it doesn’t violate state or federal law — after all, consumers exercise preference in the market all the time. But the private companies and local governments who own those taxis, buses, trains, and airplanes cannot engage in the same type of discriminatory “preferencing.”
Uber is rolling out this program in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit, and says it is doing so “after extensive testing and feedback from global markets like Saudi Arabia, Germany, and France, where women-only options have been well received.”
Uber’s conduct in “global markets like Saudi Arabia” is blatantly illegal in the United States, regardless of whether it’s “well received” or not.
* * *
Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Justice Department.
Sarah Parshall Perry is the Vice President and Legal Fellow of Defending Education and former counsel to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Crowdsourced taxi driver talking to a passenger in the back seat

Uber’s New ‘Women Preferences’ Program Violates Civil Rights Law

Uber’s New 'Women Preferences' Program Violates Civil Rights Law

Civil Rights

Discrimination

Heritage Foundation

Saudi Arabia

Silicon Valley

Uber

Women

The Department of Justice opened up an investigation into George Mason University on Thursday over employment practices that may discriminate against white people and men.
In a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1408276/dl">letter</a> to the university, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that the investigation would focus on whether the university had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which addresses employment discrimination.
“It is unlawful and un-American to deny equal access to employment opportunities on the basis of race and sex,” Dhillon said. “When employers screen out qualified candidates from the hiring process, they not only erode trust in our public institutions — they violate the law, and the Justice Department will investigate accordingly.”
Dhillon’s letter said that the actions of University President Gregory Washington were the focus of the investigation.
“The investigation stems from statements and policies made by the University’s president, which indicate that race and sex are motivating factors in faculty hiring and other employment decisions to achieve ‘diversity’ goals,” the Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-launches-investigation-employment-practices-george-mason-university">said</a>. “Multiple emails and internal documents suggest preferential treatment of certain races and sexes in hiring and other employment practices, including promotion and tenure of faculty members.”
In an email from July 23, 2020, Washington said he wanted to “develop” a “renewal, promotion, and tenure process” to help “faculty of color and women in their professional work.”
In that same email, Washington said that he was working to “develop specific mechanisms in the promotion and tenure process that recognize the invisible and uncredited emotional labor that people of color expend to learn, teach, discover, and work on campus.”
Dhillon also said that the university would intentionally list race on faculty member hiring panels “to ensure greater non-white participation in the hiring process.”
Last week, the Department of Education also <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-opens-title-vi-investigation-george-mason-university">launched</a> a Title VII investigation into George Mason over its hiring policies. The investigation was launched after the department received a complaint from multiple professors alleging racial discrimination.
The university denied any wrongdoing in response to the Education Department investigation.
“I can assure you that George Mason has always operated with a commitment to equality under the law, ever since our inception. It is simply the Mason way, and in my experience, it has not discriminated based on race, color, national origin, or otherwise,” Washington <a href="https://www.gmu.edu/news/2025-07/update-university-response-investigations">said</a>. “Our diversity efforts are designed to expand opportunity and build inclusive excellence – not to exclude or advantage any group unlawfully.”

Statue of George Mason on campus of George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

Justice Dept Probing Another University Over Racially-Based Hiring Goals

Department of Justice

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

George Mason University

Racial Discrimination

Social Issues

U.S.

The Department of Education opened up an investigation on Thursday into Western Carolina University over reports that it housed a male alongside a female and retaliated against a student after she complained about the presence of a male in a female locker room.
The Education Department&#8217;s Office of Civil Rights announced that it had initiated a Title IX investigation into Western Carolina University over allegations that the university &#8220;has openly refused to comply with Title IX and to ensure sex-separated intimate spaces in federally funded institutions of higher education.&#8221; The announcement comes one day after the group Speech First <a href="https://speechfirst.org/news/foia-records-show-western-carolina-universitys-defiant-response-to-trump-administration-policies-on-gender/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> communications from the university showing that it was not planning on making changes in response to President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order to keep men who identify as women out of female spaces.
“WCU’s reported contempt for federal anti-discrimination laws and indifference to, and retaliation against, girls who have spoken up about males invading their intimate spaces is simply unacceptable,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-launches-title-ix-investigation-western-carolina-university">said</a>. “The Trump-McMahon Department of Education will continue to deploy every lawful means to eradicate this wholly unnecessary and egregious violation of women and girls’ civil rights.”
In response to the investigation, the university said that it was compliant with all federal regulations.
&#8220;Western Carolina University is compliant with all current state and federal regulations and will continue to adjust any necessary campus policies and practices to remain in compliance with future changes,&#8221; the university told The Daily Wire. &#8220;At this time, we have no further comment regarding this matter.&#8221;
The probe comes one day after documents posted by Speech First and first <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/western-carolina-university-refusing-to-comply-with-trump-order-protecting-womens-spaces-emails-show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on by National Review show the school&#8217;s chief compliance officer stating that the university is &#8220;not making changes based&#8221; on Trump&#8217;s executive order called &#8220;Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.&#8221;
Another one of the components of the Education Department&#8217;s investigation is that the university launched a Title IX investigation into former student Payton McNabb after she complained about the presence of a male in a dress in a woman&#8217;s bathroom. While McNabb was later cleared of any wrongdoing, her lawyer <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/student-payton-mcnabb-wins-title-ix-case-over-trans-bathroom-dispute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that the university had encouraged the complaint to be filed against her.
&#8220;In addition to my experience discovering a male in the women’s restroom on campus, men who self-identify as transgender are entering other women’s intimate spaces like restrooms, dorm rooms and locker rooms,&#8221; McNabb said Thursday. &#8220;Female college students will not sit idly by as men take over our spaces. I’m thankful to have an administration that will stand up for us.”
The department&#8217;s action was praised by Nicole Neily, the acting executive director of Speech First.
“Actions speak louder than words, and the Department of Education’s commitment to protecting women and girls is second to none,&#8221; Neily said. &#8220;This investigation sends a clear message to colleges and universities across the country: compliance with the law is not voluntary.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon Visits “Fox & Friends”

Another University Facing Probe Over Defiance Of Trump Executive Orders

Department of Education

North Carolina

Title IX

Transgender

The executive branch is now making the claim that Harvard University should have its funding removed because it is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
Harvard declared it was going to resist the Trump administration&#8217;s <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demands</a> to change its governance structure over campus anti-Semitism concerns. And so the government responded by announcing a $2.26 billion freeze of Harvard&#8217;s multiyear grants and contracts.
Harvard President Alan Garber put out <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> complaining that the federal government was wrong for involving itself in this way. How dare the federal government actually attach strings to the things it has always attached its strings to?
The Trump administration asked for nine actions. Most of the demands concerned how the university operates. The government was asking for changes like a comprehensive mask bans, changes to governance and leadership, along with reforms to admissions and DEI programs.
These programs are in violation of the Civil Rights Act. There is no question that DEI would be predicated on the false notion that inequality of outcome by group must be due to discrimination and therefore must be rectified by reverse discrimination. That is in violation of the Civil Rights Act and certainly in violation of Supreme Court standards with regard to affirmative action.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2179-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a> </h3>
As far as a comprehensive mask ban, the idea is you don&#8217;t want people who have shown up to campus on student visas participating in anti-American activity that would otherwise get them deported.
And the university is facilitating all of that. 
The government is also demanding necessary changes to address bias, improve viewpoint diversity and end ideological capture, fueling anti-Semitic harassment, according to the task force&#8217;s letter.
This will likely all get played out in the courts.
But the idea that Harvard University is somehow owed federal money is absurd on its face. There is no reason the Trump administration should not be able to attach strings to money that it is sending to a university with a $53 billion endowment.
You know what’s an easy way for Harvard to continue its policy of independence from the federal government? To be independent of the federal government.
Don&#8217;t get in bed with the government if you don&#8217;t want to be controlled. That tends to be a pretty good way of approaching life.
On Friday, the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors sued the Trump administration, saying the government’s actions “overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavored speech.”
That’s not correct; they&#8217;re simply saying if you engage in anti-Semitism, that it&#8217;s in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
When Lawrence Summers was the president of Harvard University, they became angry with him because he made the mere suggestion that perhaps the lack of women in scientific institutions might be due to the fact that women are less interested in scientific pursuits overall, as opposed to men. Not to mention that the ends of the bell curve with regard to scientific performance on tests tend to be heavily male. He was soon ousted from his position.
So don&#8217;t give me your free speech concerns when you&#8217;ve been cracking down on free speech yourself for a long time. If you want to say free speech doesn&#8217;t apply at Harvard because it’s a private university, then you have to be a private university. You can&#8217;t have it both ways. You can&#8217;t say, “Free speech applies to us; we are a free speech institution. And also, we want your taxpayer money.”
That&#8217;s not the way it should work.
The idea that Harvard did not violate the Civil Rights Act is ridiculous. Does that mean that every demand that the Trump administration is making is going to get upheld in court? Some of the demands will most likely be held to be extraneous.
But Harvard does not have any moral grounds to stand on when they insist that everyone else pay the bills so they can continue pushing whatever nonsense it is they are pushing.

Harvard University Pushes Back Against Trump Administration Demands

Trump Smashes Harvard

Anti-Semitism

Harvard

Jewish

Opinion

President Trump

Trump Administration

A California university known for promoting leftist ideology removed racially-based eligibility requirements for its “environmentalist of color” scholarship program after facing legal questions over the discriminatory program. 
On Wednesday, the University of California, Berkeley, told The Daily Wire that it was investigating the program and was prepared to adjust it to comply with the law. Ahead of the investigation, it says that it has already renamed the program to the “Rooted in Joy” scholarship and taken away requirements that recipients “identify as a POC.&#8221;
“UC Berkeley is committed to complying with all state and federal laws regarding discrimination and related matters. We are looking into the matter regarding this particular program and if it is out of compliance, we will correct it promptly,” a spokesman for the university said. 
The rebrand comes after Defending Education filed a complaint with the Education Department, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watchdog-challenges-environmentalist-of-color-scholarship-at-notoriously-liberal-university?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Notoriously+Liberal+University’s+‘Environmentalist+Of+Color’+Scholarship+Is+Illegal%2C+Watchdog+Claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported</a> on by The Daily Wire, saying that the scholarship violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watchdog-challenges-environmentalist-of-color-scholarship-at-notoriously-liberal-university?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Notoriously+Liberal+University%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Environmentalist+Of+Color%E2%80%99+Scholarship+Is+Illegal%2C+Watchdog+Claims">Notoriously Liberal University’s ‘Environmentalist Of Color’ Scholarship Is Illegal, Watchdog Claims</a>
The scholarship program, which offers five students $2,000 per year, is administered by the Student Environmental Resource Center and administered by the Green Initiative Fund. 
The university later said that it had “updated the program website as a first step.”
These updates included removing from the website requirements that a recipient “identify as BIPOC” and completely renaming the program. 
<div id="attachment_905853" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-905853" class="size-full wp-image-905853" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-07-52-AM-962-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Before/After.</div>
The university also adjusted the goals of the program, changing its language from bridging “institutional gaps in resources and funding” for “students of color” to “students.” Another goal changed from financially supporting “passionate students of color” to “passionate students.” 
The goals of the scholarship still include a racial angle as the award remains designated for students working at the “intersection of communities of color and the environmental field at UC Berkeley.”
The organizational rebrand also included removing a question from its FAQ on what it meant to be a &#8220;person of color.&#8221; In the previous iteration, the university said that being a &#8220;POC&#8221; can go beyond skin color.
“While navigating the complexities and nuances of this question, SERC recognizes that being a ‘person of color’ goes beyond just skin color, and can include an intersectional expanse of racial, ethnic, and cultural experiences and identities. If you identify as a ‘person of color,’ we encourage you to apply,” the Student Environmental Resource Center said.
Also gone from the program were discussions of how &#8220;BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons-of-Color) are frequently asked to exclusively call upon their experiences with racial trauma and violence&#8221; to now just asking students to &#8220;consider their identities from the lens of radical healing, joy, and growth.&#8221;
The rebranding comes as UC Berkeley is under <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/office-civil-rights-initiates-title-vi-investigations-institutions-of-higher-education-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> by the Trump administration over potentially racially exclusionary practices in its graduate programs. The Education Department has warned all universities across the country to abide by the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision to strike down affirmative action or face penalties.

MixCollage-10-Apr-2025-11-16-AM-6016

Berkeley Tries To Rebrand ‘Environmentalist Of Color’ Scholarship After Legal Complaints

Environmentalism

University of California Berkeley

Conservatives celebrated on Thursday as the Senate voted 52-45 to confirm Harmeet Dhillon to a top Justice Department position.
Dhillon, a conservative lawyer who fought Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate, will now become the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. She was confirmed in a mostly partisan vote, with one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting alongside Democrats against Dhillon’s confirmation.
Throughout her legal career, Dhillon has fought for free speech, religious liberty, and defended President Donald Trump when a group of leftist voters attempted to throw him off the ballot in Colorado during the 2024 election.
“I’m extremely honored by President Trump’s nomination to assist with our nation’s civil rights agenda. It has been my dream to be able to serve our great country, and I am so excited to be part of an incredible team of lawyers led by [Attorney General Pam Bondi]. I cannot wait to get to work!” Dhillon said after she was first nominated by Trump. “I would not be here today without my amazing mother and brother’s support, and my beloved father Tejpal and husband Sarv, who did not live to see this day. I hope I will honor their memories, with God’s grace.”
Conservatives celebrated Dhillon’s confirmation, saying that she was a welcome addition to the DOJ.
“Congrats to my former lawyer [Harmeet Dhillon] on her confirmation as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck <a href="https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1907922482050617740" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. “No one will fight harder to ensure that EVERY American has their civil rights protected. A fearless champion for justice!”
The Dhillon Law Group, which was founded by Dhillon, posted a video featuring Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro and others congratulating her after the Senate vote wrapped up. 
“Hey Harmeet, I just want to say thank you so much for all the work you’ve done with Daily Wire to preserve free speech and free access to work and all the rest of the things that you’ve helped us with,” Shapiro said. “I can’t wait to see what you do at the DOJ. They put you in literally the perfect position to kick ass.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BIG CONGRATULATIONS from all of us at the Dhillon Law Group to our founder and FORMER managing partner, <a href="https://twitter.com/HarmeetKDhillon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HarmeetKDhillon</a> on her confirmation today as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. You’re going to do great things! <a href="https://t.co/wuBHIe9aBg">pic.twitter.com/wuBHIe9aBg</a>
&mdash; Dhillon Law Group (@dhillonlaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/dhillonlaw/status/1907921768565833761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
One of Dhillon&#8217;s best-known cases was when she <a href="https://www.dhillonlaw.com/lawsuits/the-daily-wire-challenges-biden-administration-vaccine-mandate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">represented</a> The Daily Wire in the legal fight that led to the Supreme Court blocking the Biden administration from enforcing a COVID vaccine mandate for private employers. With Dhillon’s help, The Daily Wire became the first major company to file a lawsuit against the emergency mandate in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

US-POLITICS-REPUBLICANS-RNC

Conservatives Cheer As Harmeet Dhillon Confirmed To Key Justice Department Role

Executive

Harmeet Dhillon

Lisa Murkowski

Politics

Senate

Vaccine Mandate

A parental rights group on Wednesday filed a civil rights complaint against a South Carolina school district over teacher groups that “appear to exclude individuals based on their race.”
Parents Defending Education filed a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Charleston-County-School-District_OCR-_Redacted-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complaint</a> with the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Education over multiple racially-focused “affinity groups” hosted by the Charleston County School District. The complaint, first shared with The Daily Wire, says that the groups violate federal civil rights laws by limiting participation by race. 
The <a href="https://archive.ph/oCimf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">groups</a> in question are the “Hispanic Latino Affinity Group” and the “Black Educator Affinity Group.” 
“Charleston County School District has affinity group programming that is not open to all. The District allows only some teachers to participate in affinity group programming and participation is based on their race,” the complaint reads. “Descriptions of individual affinity groups in the District appear to exclude individuals based on their race.”
According to the district’s website, the Black Educator Affinity Group is “a space for black educators to connect to one another, support one another, and celebrate one another in a safe space.”
The mission of the Hispanic Latino Affinity Group is to promote “professional development and career advancement opportunities” for Hispanic and Latino employees in the district and to “create a Hispanic-Latino Affinity committee to support recruitment, retention, and innovation among CCSD Hispanic-Latino employees.”
“Both affinity groups encourage hiring employees based on race and offer professional development opportunities exclusively for black and Hispanic-Latino employees,” the complaint says. “Furthermore, while other Districts ensures affinity group bodies are accessible to all teachers, Charleston County School District evades responsibility for the practices of its affinity groups, stating that ‘each affinity group establishes its own mission and goal.’”
The complaint argues that the affinity groups could run afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federal funding from going toward entities practicing racial discrimination, and the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. 
The school district told The Daily Wire that all employee were welcome to join the affinity groups.
&#8220;Charleston County School District&#8217;s affinity groups were designed to provide support, mentorship, and networking opportunities for educators. Participation was completely voluntary, and all employees were welcome to join,&#8221; a spokesman told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Leaders are currently reviewing all district practices that could be affected by the presidential administration&#8217;s orders to ensure all CCSD students receive the support and educational opportunities they need, including any necessary actions. Under the guidance of legal counsel, CCSD leadership met on February 25, February 26, and March 4 to advance discussions and implement any appropriate changes,&#8221; the district added.
Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily told The Daily Wire that it would continue to challenge districts like Charleston that promote racially-focused programs and opportunities. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s grotesque that districts continue to separate teachers, students, and community members on the basis of skin color, and PDE will continue to file complaints about these types of racially segregated programs until such practices end,” she said. “Where there&#8217;s smoke there&#8217;s fire — and sadly, when a school spends finite time and resources organizing events like this, we often see other discriminatory practices on the books as well.&#8221;  
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January directing all federal funding to be cut off for school districts that promote racial and gender ideology in an effort to go after the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at schools across the country.

High school classroom

EXCLUSIVE: Red State School District Accused Of Discrimination Over Racially-Focused Teacher Groups

Charleston

South Carolina

A coalition of conservative legal firms on Monday demanded a federal investigation into the American Bar Association over its racially-focused internship opportunities. 
The groups announced Monday that they had filed a Title VII civil rights charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over its “illegal” selection process for several programs, including the “Diversity Clerkship Program.” The bar association, which accredits law schools throughout the country, was challenged over its programs by the American Civil Rights Project, the Center for Equal Opportunity, and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. 
“At this stage, it seems irrefutable that the ABA’s continuance of these programs and continuation of these advertisements of these programs, all with their still-embedded discrimination, must qualify as intentional discrimination in violation of Title VII,” a copy of the complaint sent to the EEOC shared with The Daily Wire says. 
The programs in question include the “Diversity Clerkship Program,” the “Judicial Intern Opportunity Program,” “Business Law Fellows,” and the “Diversity Fellowship.” 
Applicants for the clerkship program <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/about/awards-initiatives/diversity/">must</a> be a “student of color,” “women,” “law students with disabilities,” or a student who has “overcome social or economic disadvantages.”
<div id="attachment_874511" style="width: 2750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-874511" class="size-full wp-image-874511" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM.png" alt="" width="2740" height="819" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM.png 2740w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM-300x90.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM-1024x306.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM-768x230.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM-1536x459.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/Screen-Shot-2025-02-10-at-2.26.01-PM-2048x612.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2740px) 100vw, 2740px" />Qualifications for Diversity Clerkship.</div>
The judicial intern <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/about/awards-initiatives/jiop/program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">program</a> is a full-time six-week program for students to work with federal or state judges. Applicants of this program <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/litigation/jiop/jiop-eligibility.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">must</a> be “members of groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the profession, including students from minority racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, veterans, students who are economically disadvantaged, students who identify as LGBTQ+, women, and others.”
The Business Law Fellows Program and the Diversity Fellowship have similar qualification requirements. 
“These individuals and organizations have become aware that the ABA has created a series of systematic violations of Title VII and other federal statutes,” the letter to the EEOC says. “Despite the ABA’s resulting affirmative knowledge of the illegality of these programs, the ABA has not only failed to cure these programs of their illegality, it has retained and extended them.”
The ABA declined to comment.
Both the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and the American Civil Rights project have previously voiced objections to the American Bar Association’s “diversity” programs. 
“The ABA’s employment practices are flaunting the law and morality,” said Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Associate Counsel Skylar Croy. “Regardless of race, creed, or background, everyone should be treated equally. Despite the initial successes at the federal level, the fight for true equality is far from over.”
The push to flush diversity, equity, and inclusion programs out of the ABA comes as the Trump administration has moved to eliminate DEI from the federal government. President Donald Trump has signed numerous executive orders instructing federal agencies and departments to get rid of DEI programs and emphasized the government will focus on merit-based qualifications.

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The Trump administration opened an investigation into a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/denver" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver</a> school district after one of its schools converted a women’s bathroom into an “all gender” bathroom in the name of “inclusivity and equity,” the Daily Wire has learned. 
The Department of Education told Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero on Tuesday that its Office of Civil Rights was probing East High School over its new “&#8217;all gender&#8217; bathroom,” according to a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/1-28-2025-Denver-Public-Schools-DI-Letter_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> obtained by The Daily Wire. The investigation comes after the school turned an exclusively female bathroom into a bathroom for both males and females over the winter break. 
“According to recent local reporting, the District converted a girls’ restroom in East High School to a multi-stall all gender restroom,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor wrote to Marrero. “As a result, East High School now has an exclusive restroom for male students and no restroom for female students on its second floor.”
The investigation will look at whether the new “all gender” bathroom violates the civil rights of female students who no longer have a private bathroom in that part of the school. 
&#8220;OCR’s directed investigation will examine whether the District discriminates against students on the basis of sex by installing multi-stall all gender restrooms in District school facilities, in violation of Title IX and its implementing regulations,&#8221; Trainor wrote. &#8220;Be advised that OCR’s initiation of a directed investigation is not itself evidence of wrongdoing.&#8221;
Earlier this month, East High School <a href="https://east.dpsk12.org/2025/01/03/ntroducing-all-gender-restrooms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that it had turned a women’s bathroom on the second floor of the high school into one for everyone to use, claiming it showed the school’s “commitment to inclusivity and equity, providing a welcoming space for all students.”
The school claimed the stalls were designed for “privacy” and “security,” saying in a frequently asked question <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yz6A260K-NM6qwHCEVjd4I9VOeUrZjQjB67hIzfSFYs/edit?tab=t.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">page</a> that “multi-stalled all gender bathrooms do not increase risk of violence or assault.” 
“All gender bathrooms actually benefit the safety of transgender/gender non-conforming students who are at greater risk of violence when forced to use gendered restrooms,” the FAQ page said. 
The change prompted complaints from local parents, who said the move would jeopardize their daughters&#8217; privacy and safety.
&#8220;Administration has sacrificed the comfort of these young females for this dubious change by now limiting their options,&#8221; Loris Ramos told the school board earlier this month, <a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/dps-creates-all-gender-bathroom-east-high-school/73-652a5847-e7af-4362-9b1e-d85dca7dd992#:~:text=When%20students%20at%20East%20High,Schools%20director%20of%20external%20communication." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 9News. &#8220;We, as adults, should be protecting students at all costs. Not using minors for this social experiment. This in my opinion is unlawful, immoral and is, in fact, a form of abuse.&#8221;
The district stood by its decision in a statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;It is unprecedented for the Office for Civil Rights to admittedly initiate its own investigation, into a single bathroom, as a result of local media coverage rather than in response to a filed complaint requesting their involvement,&#8221; a spokesman for the district said. &#8220;DPS is committed to educational equity, and we will continue to honor the needs of our students.&#8221;
Trainor told The Daily Wire that the decision from the school appeared to be a clear violation of the law. 
“The alarming report that the Denver Public Schools District denied female students a restroom comparable with their male counterparts appears to directly violate the civil rights of the District’s female students,” he said. “Let me be clear: it is a new day in America, and under President Trump, OCR will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. I have directed OCR’s Denver regional office to investigate this matter fully.”
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to eliminate radical gender theory and ordered the privacy of women&#8217;s bathrooms preserved throughout the federal government.

All Gender Restroom

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Investigating Denver High School Over ‘All Gender’ Bathroom

Denver

Donald Trump

gender ideology

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed a civil rights complaint on Wednesday against Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center over several scholarship programs the legal firm says illegally discriminate based on race and sex. 
The <a href="https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/HHS-OCR-Complaint-Cincinnati-Childrens-Race-Sex-Discrimination-12-17-2024-FINAL-with-Encl.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complaint</a>, filed with the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Health and Human Services, took aim at four specific programs offered by the hospital to “underrepresented groups.” WILL said the programs violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federal dollars from going toward racially discriminatory programs, and asked federal officials to launch an investigation. 
“Despite a national shortage of healthcare workers, some major healthcare systems in America still want to use taxpayer funds to discriminate on the basis of race and sex against otherwise eligible candidates,” WILL lawyer Cara Tolliver told The Daily Wire. “This is not just illegal, it’s nonsensical. The healthcare system cannot care for patients effectively, safely and efficiently, when medical education and training programs prioritize irrelevant identity politics over individual merit and essential qualities.”
The programs in question are the William K. Schubert Minority Nursing Scholarship, the Jean Turner Minority Scholarship for Medical Imaging Technology, the Biomedical Research Internship for Minority Students (BRIMS), and the Administrative Fellowship Program. 
According to the hospital, the <a href="https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/careers/diverse-workforce/schubert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">goal</a> of the William K. Schubert Minority Nursing Scholarship, which provides $2,750 in tuition aid to pediatric nursing students, is to “increase the diversity of registered nurses.” Applicants must be from an “underrepresented group,” which excludes white women. 
The Ohio hospital defines those underrepresented as “male nurses/nursing students and nurses/nursing students who are American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Hawaiian Native or other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino, and/or Asian including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Asian Indian, Thai, or Vietnamese/Southeast Asian.”
WILL said that this program disfavors “students who are not men and do not meet certain racial criteria — if these race- and sex-based barriers do not disqualify such students from the Hospital’s ‘minority’ scholarship entirely.”
Similarly, the Jean Turner Minority Scholarship <a href="https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/careers/diverse-workforce/medical-imaging-scholarship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stipulates</a> that recipients must be from an “under-represented ethnic group in the field of radiology.” This scholarship can cover up to $5,000 in tuition for a school year and was created “to create opportunities for people of color in the field of radiology.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-medical-association-pushes-for-dei-to-be-embedded-in-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: Major Medical Association Pushes For DEI ‘To Be Embedded In Everything’</a>
Another initiative WILL argues is discriminatory is the Biomedical Research In Medicine and Science (BRIMS) program, designed for “underrepresented” populations to gain summer experience in a lab doing academic research.
“While candidates meeting the racial criteria can immediately qualify for BRIMS, candidates who do not meet the program’s racial criteria must either find some other way than skin color to demonstrate their disadvantage, or lose their eligibility altogether,” WILL wrote in its complaint. 
The hospital’s “Administrative Fellowship” program “strongly encourages applicants from historically underrepresented groups in healthcare — including diverse groups based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
This program allows recipients to gain experience running operations at a children’s hospital and academic center. 
“Treating individuals as racial or gender archetypes to ‘fix’ group differences is beyond the remit of a healthcare entity,” WILL wrote of the programs. “And in any event, such discrimination is illegal: Title VI and the [Affordable Care Act] do not permit federal funding recipients, like the Hospital, to operate their education, training and scholarship opportunities in this manner.”
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WILL also highlighted how the hospital keeps a <a href="https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/about/diversity-equity-inclusion">running total</a> of its workforce “diversity” on its website, showing how many men vs. women are on staff and how many white vs. “POC” (people of color) work at the institution. 
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire. 
Federal officials <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-investigating-after-cleveland-clinic-accused-of-treating-white-individuals-differently" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously opened</a> an investigation into another Ohio hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, after WILL demanded a civil rights probe into the provider’s “Minority Stroke Program” and “Minority Men’s Health Center.&#8221;

Doctor writing on clipboard

Children’s Hospital Accused Of Promoting Racially Discriminatory Scholarships, Internships

Cincinnati

Courts

Department of Health and Human Services

Health Care

Ohio

Wisconsin

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> school denied extra reading help to a white dyslexic student because of his race, according to a conservative legal firm.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) <a href="https://will-law.org/wisconsin-school-denies-help-to-dyslexic-student-based-on-race/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> this week that a young boy attending King Elementary School in Green Bay was discriminated against because of a policy that prioritized literacy help to black, Hispanic, and American Indian students. WILL says that the policy, found in its “school success” plan, violates federal civil rights law and should be scrapped.
The <a href="https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1729526359/gbapsorg/jzfqjk8mb1yobfm3r4jt/KingSchoolSuccessPlan2024-25.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policy</a> in question details that part of the school’s action plan should be “intentional work educating our focus students, prioritizing additional resources to First Nations, Black, and Hispanic students.”
Colbey Decker told WILL that when she attempted to get extra reading help for her son because of his dyslexia, he was put on a waiting list for almost a year before he got help as part of a group. WILL says that Decker’s child would have been given individualized help if he had been black or Hispanic.
“The school implied to me that my child would already be receiving one-on-one reading support if he were Black, Hispanic, or First Nation,” Decker said after reaching out to the school’s principal about the policy. “I was speechless. I think we need to help every student in need, and using the guise of ‘diversity’ simply creates more division and hurts all students.”
In a <a href="https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12.9.24-Colbey-Decker-Ltr-to-GBAPSD.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the Green Bay Public School District, WILL called for the policy to be ended.
“This policy, while purporting to address disparities, discriminates against students of other races who are equally in need of support,” WILL lawyers Cory Brewer and Dan Lennington wrote. “Race is used both as a negative and as a stereotype, in violation of U.S. Supreme Court precedent. The district’s policy fails to treat students as individuals and disregards their unique needs.”
Brewer told The Daily Wire that the firm was considering different legal responses to the policy, including filing a lawsuit or federal complaint. She said that the best-case scenario would be that the policy is rescinded and replaced with a colorblind standard that treats every student equally.
“The school where our client’s son attends has a written plan that explicitly says additional resources will be prioritized to certain students based on race,” she told The Daily Wire. “Obviously, that means that other students are considered not a priority.”
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The school district denied that the race-based policy was in place at the district level in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wisconsin-mom-mulls-lawsuit-alleging-school-districts-pushing-horrifying-race-based-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> to Fox.
“The District received the letter from WILL yesterday and we are investigating the allegations. However, we can state unequivocally that the District does not have a policy that includes the language included in the letter,” the district said. “All District policies must be approved by the Board of Education and no such policy language exists.&#8221;
Brewer told The Daily Wire that she was optimistic that the federal civil rights laws would be able to be applied to similar cases with the incoming Trump administration.
“With the Trump administration coming in, we hope to have an opportunity for Title VI to be enforced in a way that ensures all individuals, such as our client’s son, to be treated as individuals and for students who need help to get help without regard to race,” she said.

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A parental rights group requested a federal probe of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> school district after it hosted an event last year that explicitly excluded white faculty members, according to a letter first shared with The Daily Wire. 
Parents Defending Education sent a letter on Monday requesting that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigate the Acalanes Union High School District in Lafayette, California, for racial discrimination. The group said that the district was violating federal civil rights law by offering racially exclusionary programming for faculty members. The request comes after the district <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/high-school-asks-employees-avoid-inviting-white-peers-event-people-of-color-due-mistrust" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made headlines</a> last year after a school employee held an event for staff that left out white people. 
“PDE and its members oppose racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools. Acalanes Union High School District is offering additional programming for employees of color that are not offered to all employees in the district,” Parents Defending Education wrote in a letter to the director and regional attorney of the Oakland field office for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 
The complaint stems from an incident last year when district’s director of student equity and inclusion Lynnā McPhatter-Harris hosted an event for all non-white employees in the district. In an email, she sent out an invitation for an event saying for an event for non-white district employees. 
&#8220;We are looking forward to seeing our people of color in the district. Please invite any employee of color to this event,” she wrote. 
&#8220;Be reminded that we have avoided inviting people that are not of color as there remains feelings of uneasiness and mistrust and we need this to be a safe space for our people of color,&#8221; the email said. &#8220;Please reach out to me if you have any questions of concerns.&#8221;
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Parents Defending Education said that the district was guilty of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act over the programming. The district did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment on whether there had been any more similar events. 
“Acalanes Union High School likewise cannot exclude employees based on their race. We ask that your office promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief,” the group wrote. 
PDE also drew attention in its letter to language from a contractual agreement between the Acalanes Education Association and Acalanes Union High School District that includes language about teachers promoting equity in the classroom. The group has focused on highlighting how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs have been adopted across the country.

Hollywood High School Students And Teachers Prepare For Coming School Year

Parents Group Demands Investigation After White Teachers Excluded From School Event

California

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