Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOJ NEWS—Investigation sets sights on California EPA’s racial equity efforts, (Aug 28, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:California Air Resources Board
By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.
The DOJ’s notice letter states that the California Air Resources Board refers to its efforts to shift to a more inclusive culture as “organizing/woke.”
A Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation seeks to determine whether the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), including the California Air Resources Board (CARB), may be engaged in employment practices that discriminate based on race, sex, color, and national origin. The DOJ in its notice letter, addressed to the Secretary for Environmental Protection at CalEPA cited publicly available guidance documents indicating the agencies’ use of protected characteristics to advance racial equality.
Alleged employment discrimination. The DOJ stated in its notice letter that its investigation is based on information that CalEPA “may be engaged in employment discrimination practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race, color, sex, and national origin in violation of Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964].” Specifically, the DOJ cited CalEPA’s “Practices to Advance Racial Equality in Workforce Planning,” which provides that CalEPA will: (1) apply "a racial equity lens to every phase of workforce development" to achieve race-based workforce outcomes; (2) use "value statement practices" by adding "racial equity/core value statement[s]" to ensure "[p]otential job candidates will be aware of values held by the hiring agency, which helps normalize and advance racial equity;" (3) engage in "screening practices" that account for "cultural competency and lived experience;" and (4) ensure that interview panels "reflect racial, ethnic, gender and other diversity as much as possible."
Racial Equity Framework. CARB, a division of CalEPA, appears to have put these principles into practice through its Racial Equity Framework to “shift the culture at CARB from one of white privilege to an actively anti-racist and more inclusive culture that values and affirms Black lives,” the DOJ stated. The notice letter states that CARB, through this effort, aims to advance race-based decision-making within the agency.
News: AgencyNews Discrimination RaceDiscrimination CaliforniaNews