Gov. Tim Walz and his Minnesota liberals may have to answer to the Department of Justice sooner rather than later thanks to potentially discriminatory hiring practices, if a letter from the DOJ is any indication.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into a Minnesota policy that forces supervisors “to provide justification for hiring non-diverse candidates in underrepresented roles,” the paper reported.
What are “underrepresented roles?” Pretty much everyone but white men.
From a letter from assistant attorney general with the Civil Rights Division, Harmeet K. Dhillon, to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison:
The policy defines “underrepresented candidates” to include “females,” and racial “minorities” who are “Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander,” “American Indian or Alaskan native.” Employees who fail to comply with this policy “may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.” This hiring justification policy appears to be just one component of a broader effort by Minnesota to engage in race- and sex-based employment practices pursuant to “affirmative action” objectives.
In the Thursday letter, Dhillon said she had “authorized a full investigation to determine whether Minnesota is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination.”
The policy had been established by Minnesota’s Department of Human Services in 2002, but starting Aug. 12, it’ll be a standalone rule which effectively prohibits hiring supervisors from offering jobs to white men in so-called “underrepresented positions” without receiving prior permission by the Department of Human Services’ equal opportunity and access division.
“Underrepresented position” is rather broadly defined as a situation where “the full-time equivalent representation of one or more protected groups is less than that group’s estimated availability in the relevant geographic area and labor force.”
And, as the Star-Tribune notes, this gets even more DEI-tastic once you dive into it.
Have Democrats ruined Minnesota?
“The policy further requires hiring managers to have interviews with at least three underrepresented candidates if the hiring pool has three or more people who fall under protected groups,” the outlet reported.
“If the manager’s candidate pick is elevated over a more qualified applicant who falls into an underrepresented group, the supervisors are required to document objective reasons for their choice, including: Minimum qualifications, the candidate’s preferred qualifications, interview score, requirements within the position’s description, candidate references and background check results.”
However, the law might end up running into issues beyond the fact that there’s a new administrative sheriff in town in D.C. Extrapolating the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard from college admissions to government hiring — which is governed under a different section of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, but one which is not dissimilar to the one that case hinged upon — affirmative action programs must what’s known as “strict scrutiny” to avoid running afoul of the Constitution.
That means that not only must they serve an obvious and compelling government interest, but they also need to be narrowly tailored.
Requiring approval to hire white men for what are rather vaguely defined as “underrepresented positions” probably isn’t going to fly under the rubric of narrow tailoring.
Whatever the case, acting deputy assistant attorney general Eric Sell will be helming the investigation, according to the letter.
As for officials in Tim Walz’s Minnesota, they insist that the regulations are designed to ensure the state “meets affirmative action responsibilities” and will increase the “diversity of its workforce to reflect and effectively serve its client base.”
“The Minnesota Department of Human Services follows all state and federal hiring laws,” the department said in a statement. It added that similar justification was required for “non-affirmative action” hires for certain positions since 1987.
And just think: This is the state whose governor could have been second in command in these United States had voters decided differently. Therefore by the grace of God goeth the Electoral College.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
