9th Circuit revives Seattle employee's hostile work environment lawsuit

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit filed by Joshua Diemert, a former Seattle city employee, alleging a hostile work environment created by mandatory anti-racism training.

Diemert, who worked for the Seattle Human Services Department, claims that the city’s Race and Social Justice Initiative led to years of harassment and the denial of job opportunities based on his race. The lawsuit alleges that during workshops, trainers made racially offensive statements, including claims that “racism was in white people’s DNA” and that “all white people are cannibals.”

While a lower court had previously dismissed the case, the appeals court ruled that the alleged incidents over a six-year period were sufficient to support claims of a hostile work environment under federal and Washington state law. The court noted that if proven at trial, the evidence would show Diemert was subjected to “racially offensive statements and generalizations bearing little or no connection to legitimate training efforts.”