“Woke” fight – Governor Ron DeSantis signing document in front of crowd – Photo: Yes Market Media/Shutterstock.com
On Monday, an appeals court in the United States ruled that a Florida law supported by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, which outlawed required workplace diversity training that advocates progressive ideas, infringes upon employers’ constitutional right to free expression.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in Atlanta, upheld the decision of a lower court judge to prohibit the statute, which was requested by two small firms and a workplace training consultant. The panel of three judges made this decision.
DeSantis signed the Stop the Wrong to Our Kids and Employees Act, also known as the Stop WOKE Act, into law in 2022. It prohibits employers from making their employees undergo training that advocates eight particular themes.
These include the notions that people are innately sexist or racist and that people ought to feel bad for the deeds of other members of their own sex or ethnicity. Businesses that break the law risk incurring heavy financial penalties.
Writing for the panel on Monday, U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant said that the law’s prohibition on communication about subjects the state deems “offensive” but not others violates the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech in the United States Constitution.
“Florida may be exactly right about the nature of the ideas it targets,” said Grant. Or it might not. In any case, the merits of these points of view will not be determined by a codebook or a tribunal, but rather by the booming marketplace of ideas.”
Judges Andrew Brasher and Charles Wilson of the U.S. Circuit Court concurred with Grant’s opinion. Wilson was appointed by Democratic former President Bill Clinton, while Grant and Brasher are appointees of Republican former President Donald Trump.
Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, who is defending the law in court, has issued a statement stating that her office is looking over the ruling.
One well-known example of a law passed by Republican-led states recently that dissuades businesses from taking positions on diversity, gun control, climate change, and other social concerns is the Stop WOKE Act.
The statute was challenged by Whitespace Consulting, a consulting firm, as well as Honeyfund.com Inc. and Primo Tampa LLC, two companies that intended to hold training sessions emphasizing “diversity, equity, and inclusion” issues.
“Today is a good day for the First Amendment and the ability of American businesses to speak freely,” plaintiffs’ attorney Shalini Goel Agarwal of the advocacy group Protect Democracy said in a statement.
Following a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a lower-court judge in 2022 also struck down specific sections of the statute that prohibit topics of race and sex in college classrooms. That ruling has been challenged to the 11th Circuit by Florida.
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Chris began his writing as a hobby while attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Today he and his wife live in the Orlando area with their three children and dog.
