A federal judge has permanently blocked a key part of Florida’s Individual Freedom Act—also known as the “Stop Woke Act”—a law that barred private employers from requiring staff to undergo training inspired by critical race theory and likeminded ideologies, such as the notion that members of one ethnic group or sex are inherently racist, oppressive, or sexist.
The statute is a provision of Florida law introduced by the Stop Woke Act that prohibits employers from endorsing any of eight concepts during any mandatory employment activity. These include the notion that one group is morally superior to another based on race, or that individuals should be discriminated against to achieve the aims of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), or that individuals should feel guilt for past actions by others of the same race.
“This Court declares that Fla. Stat. § 760.10(8) (202) violates free speech rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,” the judge wrote in the July 26 order, blocking enforcement of the law throughout Florida.
“In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces,” Gov. DeSantis said in an April 22, 2022, statement. “There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”
In counter-filings and in court, attorneys representing the Florida officials named as defendants in the lawsuit, including Gov. DeSantis, argued that the Stop Woke Act did not limit constitutionally protected speech in any way and so it wasn’t discriminatory. Rather, they claimed that the law protected workers from discrimination by being forced, against their will, to participate in mandatory DEI-related discussions or training as part of their employment.
The defendants say the Stop Woke Act “does nothing more than ban race discrimination in employment,” the judge wrote. “But to compare the diversity trainings Plaintiffs wish to hold to true hostile work environments rings hollow.”
“Florida may be exactly right about the nature of the ideas it targets. Or it may not,” the appellate judges wrote. “Either way, the merits of these views will be decided in the clanging marketplace of ideas rather than a codebook or a courtroom.”
While the DeSantis administration disagreed with the ruling and hinted at a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the state did not oppose a motion by the business groups seeking conversion of the temporary injunction into a permanent one.
Gov. DeSantis’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling.