This Is The Way: White Professor Sues For Discrimination Because Of DEI Training

From the College Fix: "White professor’s ‘hostile work environment’ claim can move forward: judge." The article relates:

    A white professor’s racial-discrimination lawsuit against Pennsylvania State University-Abington can move forward, a federal judge ruled recently.

    District Judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled Friday against a motion to dismiss from the Abington public university. Penn State sought to stop former English Professor Zack De Piero’s lawsuit that alleged he was “individually singled out for ridicule and humiliation because of the color of his skin,” according to the original filing.

    De Piero’s ... attorneys argued that mandatory diversity trainings and race-based grading constituted a “hostile work environment, in violation of Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” that forced De Piero to resign, according to the ruling’s summary.

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    The judge ruled against De Piero’s claims he was subjected to an “adverse employment action,” but ruled his racial hostility claims could proceed.

    One of the mandatory trainings, as detailed in the ruling, included a “breathing exercise” after the murder of George Floyd, where non-black employees were asked to hold their breath “just a little longer – to feel the pain.”

    Judge Beetlestone said university “white privilege” and other trainings “can contribute positively to nuanced, important conversations about how to form a healthy and inclusive working environment. Indeed, this is particularly so in an educational institution. ”

    However, employers “risk liability under federal law” when race discussions use “a constant drumbeat of essentialist, deterministic, and negative language.”