White Employee’s Hostile Work Environment Claim Arising From City’s Race-Based DEI Programming Is Revived
Diemert v. City of Seattle , 2026 WL 2903699 (9th Cir. 2026) Joshua Diemert, a white man who worked in the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department, challenged the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, which required employees to participate in racial justice trainings and events, some of which were limited to employees of particular races; the Initiative also sponsored racially-aligned affinity groups or caucuses. Diemert alleged that the Initiative, together with a series of offensive remarks from coworkers and supervisors, created a racially hostile work environment. After Diemert resigned, he sued the City for violation of the Equal Protection Clause, hostile work environment, constructive discharge, disparate treatment, and retaliation under Title VII and the Washington Law Against Discrimination. The district court granted summary judgment to the City on all claims. The Ninth Circuit reversed as to the hostile work environment claims, holding that the workplace incidents at issue were “sufficiently numerous, frequent, and severe” to create a triable issue of fact. However, the Court affirmed summary judgment on the constructive discharge, disparate treatment, and retaliation claims, and it affirmed dismissal of the equal protection claim on the ground that Diemert lacked Article III standing because he failed to show
