Court sides with California professor punished for opposing DEI mandates in higher ed
The Ninth Circuit partially revived Bakersfield College professor Daymon Johnson’s lawsuit challenging California community college DEIA mandates, finding he plausibly alleged a credible threat of enforcement.
The court allowed some claims to proceed while dismissing others and sent the case back to the district court for further review.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has partly revived a lawsuit brought by Bakersfield College professor Daymon Johnson against California community college officials over campus diversity regulations.
In a July 14 ruling, the court reversed a lower court’s decision that had dismissed Johnson’s claims for lack of standing, finding that Johnson had plausibly alleged a credible threat of enforcement under certain state regulations requiring faculty compliance with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) policies.
Though it allowed Johnson’s suit to continue, the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of some of Johnson’s claims, finding that he lacked standing to challenge broader DEIA guidelines and various campus policies that either do not apply directly to him or are unenforceable.
The appellate court declined to rule on Johnson’s request for a preliminary injunction, instead sending the case back to the district court for further consideration.
Johnson is suing community college officials over statewide rules requiring faculty to promote DEIA and “anti-racist” principles. Johnson, represented by the Institute for Free Speech, claims these mandates violate the First Amendment by forcing faculty to adopt political views.
Johnson seeks to block officials from disciplining him or compelling speech, arguing the rules infringe on academic freedom and free expression across California’s community colleges.
“These demands are unconstitutional on their face and as applied against Professor Johnson, as they contradict the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and petition by punishing the expression of dissenting viewpoints and trampling over faculty’s right of academic freedom,” the professor’s July 2023 complaint states.
Johnson has claimed that school administrators previously fired a professor for “wrongthink” while characterizing opposition to DEI as “promoting exclusion,” according to The Courthouse News Service.
Other First Amendment lawsuits against school administrations have also found success in the past.
Campus Reform has reported that Clovis Community College in Fresno, California, was forced to pay $330,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing it of violating conservative students’ First Amendment rights.
In that case, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) members posted anti-communist flyers with approval, but administrators removed them, restricting students to a little-used “Free Speech Kiosk.” The plaintiffs successfully challenged the college’s flyer policy.
The University of Oregon had to pay around $191,000 in legal fees after settling Portland State professor Bruce Gilley’s First Amendment lawsuit this year.
Campus Reform has contacted Bakersfield College for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
