Attorney General Pam Bondi ended federal lawsuits that the Biden administration had filed against local police and fire departments over their merit-based hiring policies.
Under the Biden administration, the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights sued local first responders for prioritizing merit in hiring rather than making race-based decisions.
“Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination—only statistical disparities—the prior administration branded the aptitude tests at issue in these cases as discriminatory to advance a DEI agenda,” the DOJ said in a news release.
“And it sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring in response and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications,” the news release added.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies within the federal government. Bondi’s decision this week marks the latest development in the ongoing effort to roll back DEI initiatives under the new administration.
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Bondi’s office stated that DEI policies pose a threat to public safety and indicated that dismissing the cases represents an “early step toward eradicating illegal DEI preferences across the government and in the private sector.”
“American communities deserve firefighters and police officers to be chosen for their skill and dedication to public safety – not to meet DEI quotas,” Bondi said.
The proposed consent decrees typically acknowledged that the departments used neutral selection criteria, such as credit checks, written exams, and physical fitness tests, to evaluate candidates for open positions. However, White men tended to achieve higher scores or perform better on these assessments.
For instance, a lawsuit filed in October against the City of Durham, North Carolina, alleged “unintentional” discrimination against Black applicants, citing that they failed to meet the required 70% passing score on the written exam at a lower rate than White candidates, resulting in fewer Black hires.
As a remedy, the complaint proposed eliminating the neutral written test and providing “back pay and/or preferential hiring” for Black candidates who were not selected due to their exam performance. The estimated cost of these measures was approximately $980,000 in monetary relief.
In a separate case filed against the Maryland State Police in October 2024, it was proposed that the agency discontinue its current selection methods, which included a written test requiring a score of 70% or higher and a physical assessment consisting of push-ups, sit-ups, a flexibility reach, a trigger pull, and a 1.5-mile run, Fox added.
The proposed changes called for eliminating the previous selection criteria and allocating $2.75 million in monetary relief to Black candidates who were not hired due to written test results and women who were not hired due to physical test performance. The DOJ stated that similar lawsuits had also been filed against the cities of South Bend, Indiana, and Cobb County, Georgia, Fox noted further.
Bondi has been busy this week.
The AG announced on Tuesday that Luigi Mangione, the alleged CEO killer, will face the death penalty from the Justice Department.
If Mangione is found guilty of capital murder, Bondi said she will order Matthew Podolsky, the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, to pursue the death penalty in the case.
Mangione is charged both state and federally for allegedly shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in Midtown Manhattan in December. Regarding the state charges, he entered a not guilty plea. Mangione was charged in a federal criminal complaint but has not yet been indicted on those charges.
Bondi also announced that the DOJ charged a man with bombing a Tesla dealership and is seeking a 20-year prison sentence.
Bondi revealed that suspect Cooper Frederick has been charged with firebombing a Tesla dealership on March 7 in Loveland, Colorado. The FBI pursued the suspect, who was arrested in Plano, Texas.
“I’ve made it clear: If you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars,” she said. “Today, I am proud to announce that the Department of Justice has unsealed federal charges against another Tesla attacker. All of these cases are a serious threat to public safety; therefore, there will be no negotiating.”
“Let this be a warning: You can run, but you cannot hide. Justice is coming,” Bondi noted.
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