Justice Department Sues Minnesota Over Affirmative Action in State Government

The lawsuit alleges that Minnesota’s policies violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and requests an extraordinary three-judge panel to hear the case.

People gather during a vigil for deceased protester Renee Good on the steps of the state capitol building in St. Paul, Minn., on Jan. 9, 2026. Earlier this week a federal agent fatally shot Good in her car during an incident in south Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The Justice Department filed suit against the state of Minnesota on Jan. 14 over an affirmative action program that allegedly discriminates against state employees on the basis of sex and race.

The lawsuit argues that Minnesota violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by imposing “a statewide affirmative action program for state civil service.” It seeks a permanent injunction barring those practices, as well as relief to employees the department alleges were discriminated against.

Title VII bans employment discrimination by public and private employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

“Making hiring decisions based on immutable characteristics like race and sex is simple discrimination, and the Trump Administration has no tolerance for such DEI policies,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement about the lawsuit.

Bondi was referring to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, whose division is overseeing the case, said the lawsuit was the “next logical step” after the Supreme Court’s decision on Harvard’s affirmative action program.

“The Supreme Court put an end to using race as a factor in college admissions through its Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision,” Dhillon said in a statement accompanying the statement. “Title VII protects all people from race and sex discrimination in employment.”

The department has taken the unusual step of requesting a “three-judge panel” in the case, based on its “general public importance.” In this situation, rather than a hearing before a U.S. district judge, the case is heard by a panel that includes an appellate judge from a U.S. Court of Appeals in that district’s circuit.

As part of the initial complaint, the department included an exhibit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of Minnesota’s hiring policy for “underrepresented candidates” for jobs.

The policy requires human resource offices in state agencies to “drive diverse applicants to the vacancy” for a job. It also requires a “hiring justification document” if they plan to hire a “non-affirmative” candidate for a role in which there is allegedly minority underrepresentation.

The lawsuit is the latest legal salvo against Minnesota by the Trump administration.

Most recently, the Trump administration has deployed federal immigration officers to the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to conduct removal operations against criminal illegal immigrants. The administration has also targeted the area’s Somali ethnic community, several of whose members were recently involved in a large-scale fraud scandal involving theft of COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.

“From suing over sanctuary city policies to a wide-ranging fraud investigation, today’s lawsuit is the Department of Justice’s latest effort to bring Minnesota into compliance with federal law,” Bondi said.

The state has long been governed by members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party nationwide and has among the most progressive social policies in the country.