WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a state law complaint with the New York Department of Labor against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged racial and sex discrimination in hiring and recruitment in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and of the New York State Human Rights Law.
The evidence is that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office uses “diversity” as a proxy for hiring and promotion quotas. The Office’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion web page — listed under “About the Office” alongside only two other pages, “Meet Alvin Bragg” and “History of the Office” — demonstrates that Bragg operates a program of racial balancing to build “a diverse [sic] workforce that reflects [diverse] communities.”
The very first of Bragg’s “Diversity Equity Inclusion and Justice priorities” is “Ensuring our staff reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.”
Under the “Careers” tab, at the top of the page for Legal Staff Employment is the statement, “We are committed to the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of a diverse [sic] staff.”
The same statement appears on the page for careers in Legal Training:
Describing Professional Staff Employment, Bragg repeats that the “[t]he Office seeks to have a staff that reflects the diversity of the community that [it] serve[s].”
Apparently to enforce its quota system and screen out white, male, or Asian candidates, Bragg’s Office collects race, ethnicity, and even sexual orientation data on its employment applications.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York Human Rights Law prohibit employers from hiring or promoting based on race, color, sex, or national origin. As EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas has stated, an employer “cannot use racial or sex-based quotas” and “cannot take race-motivated actions to maintain a demographically ‘balanced’ workforce.” Yet Bragg, who has sworn an oath to enforce the law, ignores it.
Bragg’s self-described recruitment, hiring, and promotion practices and quotas violate our nondiscrimination laws. Therefore, the EEOC and the New York Human Rights Division have ample reason to act. AFL will continue fighting to protect our citizens’ rights and to preserve the rule of law.
Statement from America First Legal Senior Vice President Reed D. Rubinstein:
“Alvin Bragg has demonstrated beyond all doubt that he will disregard the law and abuse his authority to advance a political agenda. His practice of recruiting, hiring, and promoting workers based on their race, sex, or national origin is obnoxious, immoral, and illegal. The EEOC and the New York Human Rights Division were created to stop Bragg and others like him from illegally discriminating against Americans; based on the facts, they should act to protect equality and the rule of law.“ said Reed D. Rubinstein.
Read the EEOC complaint here.
Read the New York Human Rights Division complaint here
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