TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A group of plaintiffs are suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials, claiming the so-called Stop WOKE Act violates the U.S. Constitution.
DeSantis said the law, officially called the Individual Freedom Act, would be used to "fight back against woke indoctrination" and to "take on... corporate wokeness." A lawsuit filed June 22 in federal court says it stifles free speech.
"While the Stop WOKE Act purports to combat discrimination, existing federal and state antidiscrimination law already prohibits speech that strays into actual discrimination with an adverse employment consequence," the lawsuit says.
"With this bill, Florida seeks to go further and ban pure speech that its political leaders dislike. That it cannot do."
The law goes into effect July 1 and attempts to bar messaging in training materials requiring K-20 employees to subscribe to concepts such as privilege, oppression and inherent biases that are grounded in race and gender.
But it also allows such instructions if they are “presented in an objective manner without endorsement,” according to the state Legislature’s summary of HB 7.
The lawsuit challenging it says facts support a history of discrimination in the employment world that need to be understood and addressed.
"While people of good faith may disagree about why such inequalities continue to exist, or what steps are most likely to address them, or even whether some solutions might entail other costs that counterbalance the benefits, there is no doubt that the First Amendment protects the right of all citizens to openly engage in that debate and to espouse their own views about these inequalities and the best way to tackle them," the suit says.
The Protect Democracy Project filed the suit, along with lawyers at Ropes & Gray.