DOJ Ends ‘DEI’ Lawsuits Against Fire, Police Departments
Attorney General Pam Bondi has dismissed federal lawsuits initiated by the Biden administration against local police and fire departments over their hiring practices based on merit.
Under President Biden, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Office had taken legal action against local first responders, arguing that prioritizing merit in hiring rather than race was discriminatory.
“Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination – only statistical disparities – the prior administration branded the aptitude tests at issue in these cases as discriminatory in an effort to advance a DEI agenda,” the DOJ stated in a news release.
“And it sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring in response and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications,” the release continued.
Former President Donald Trump had previously signed executive orders to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in federal agencies, and Bondi’s move is the latest effort to scale back DEI measures under the current administration.
Bondi’s office asserted that DEI policies undermine public safety and described the case dismissals as “an early step toward eradicating illegal DEI preferences across the government and in the private sector.”
“American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety – not to meet DEI quotas,” Bondi emphasized.
The proposed consent decrees acknowledged that the departments used neutral hiring criteria—such as credit checks, written exams, and physical fitness tests—to assess applicants. However, Fox News reported that White men often performed better on these evaluations.
For example, a lawsuit filed in October against Durham, North Carolina, claimed that the city engaged in “unintentional” discrimination against Black applicants. The complaint cited that fewer Black candidates met the required 70% passing score on the written exam compared to White candidates, leading to a lower rate of Black hires.
To address this, the lawsuit suggested removing the written test and offering “back pay and/or preferential hiring” for Black applicants who were not selected due to their exam performance. The estimated cost of these measures was approximately $980,000 in monetary relief.
In another case, a lawsuit filed in October 2024 against the Maryland State Police challenged the agency’s selection process. The department required applicants to pass a written test with a minimum score of 70% and complete a physical fitness assessment that included push-ups, sit-ups, a flexibility reach, a trigger pull, and a 1.5-mile run, according to Fox News.
“Because Black applicants passed the test less often than White applicants and because women passed the physical test less often than men, the Civil Rights Division concluded that Maryland was illegally discriminating against Black applicants and women,” a case filing stated.
The proposed reforms recommended abolishing the current selection criteria and awarding $2.75 million in monetary relief to Black candidates who were not hired due to written test results and women who were not selected due to physical fitness performance. Fox News further reported that similar lawsuits had been filed against South Bend, Indiana, and Cobb County, Georgia.
Additionally, on Thursday, Bondi made a stunning disclosure that the FBI’s New York field office was withholding significant documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, Bondi demanded immediate compliance and called for an internal review of how the agency managed the case.
This revelation follows previous reports that the FBI may have secretly destroyed Epstein-related documents, fueling speculation of corruption and obstruction within the government.
Bondi stated that her office had received only a fraction of the requested files regarding Epstein’s criminal activities.
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi wrote. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.”
She then issued a firm directive: “By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients.”