Group threatens legal action against Tim Walz’s affirmative action hiring policy

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) sent a notice of legal action to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz concerning his state’s allegedly discriminatory hiring policies on Monday.

AFPI claimed the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ (“Minnesota DHS”) plan, which it called “affirmative action,” requires “higher standards for hiring white men than other racial groups,” according to the notice letter. The AFPI is promising legal action if the hiring policy is not revoked.

“This blatant racial discrimination by a state is grievously illegal and must be rescinded,” AFPI wrote in the notice. “If not, the AFPI stands ready to support the claims of any plaintiff wrongfully denied employment because of Minnesota’s unconstitutional policies.”

This AFPI notice comes after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an investigation into Minnesota DHS’ hiring policy, set to take effect next month. The new policies would force hiring supervisors to justify hiring a non-underrepresented hire, and defines “protected group(s)” as “females, persons with disabilities, and members of the following minorities: Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaskan native.”

“Minnesota’s Department of Human Services is not above rhetoric law,” AFPI Executive General Counsel Jessica Hart Steinmann told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Its affirmative action policies blatantly discriminate based on race and sex, in direct violation of the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent. Requiring higher hiring standards for white men, imposing racial quotas, and prioritizing recruitment dollars based on skin color are not morally offensive — they’re flatly illegal. The America First Policy Institute will not hesitate to support legal action against this unconstitutional program. Equal protections means equal treatment for all, without exception.”

AFPI also cited a July 1, 2024, Minnesota DHS Affirmative Action Plan, which allocated “approximately $8,000 to prepare an affirmative action policy, which is still in effect today,” according to the notice.

“Through these policies, the DHS has opened itself up to potential lawsuits from any member of a non-minority group who is rejected from one of these ‘underrepresented’ job categories, not to mention those who will not bother to apply, given the extra hurdles that must be cleared form them to be hired,” AFPI wrote in the notice.

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