Justice Department launches probe of California EPA over alleged diversity-based hiring practices

The U S Justice Department DOJ has launched an scrutiny into the California Environmental Protection Agency CalEPA over accusations of racial equity-based hiring practices In a letter dated Wednesday the DOJ notified the state environmental agency of an inspection into whether it is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race color sex and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of Our scrutiny is based on information that CalEPA may be engaged in employment practices that discriminate against employees job applicants and training effort participants based on race color sex and national origin in violation of Title VII Harmeet K Dhillon of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division wrote in the letter GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY VIOLATED TITLE VI WITH 'UNLAWFUL DEI POLICIES ' TUITION DEPARTMENT SAYSThe letter specifically cites CalEPA's Practices to Advance Racial Equity in Workforce Planning document that promotes applying a racial equity lens to every phase of workforce advance and states that interview panels should reflect racial ethnic gender and other diversity as much as achievable Including different groups of people and perspectives in the hiring process including people of color can lessen the impact of in-group bias in hiring the document reads DOJ INSPECTING MINNESOTA HIRING PRACTICES IN LATEST CLASH WITH WALZThe document also urged hiring managers to engage in screening practices that account for cultural competency and lived experience When forming the screening criteria broaden the focus on applicable knowledge skills and abilities to include points in the Screening Criteria Scoring Key pertaining to cultural competency and lived experience it reads In a comment announcing the probe Dhillon noted Race-based employment practices and policies in America s local and state agencies violate equal therapy under the law Agencies that unlawfully use protected characteristics as a factor in employment and hiring exposure serious legal consequences she continued Fox News Digital reached out to CalEPA for comment