Federal civil rights office launches investigation into Minnesota over diversity hiring policy

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday launched an investigation into the state of Minnesota stemming from a Department of Human Services policy that calls for supervisors to provide justification for hiring non-diverse candidates in underrepresented roles.

The federal department said the DHS protocol may violate U.S. employment discrimination law and its investigators are now probing into whether the state has engaged “in a pattern or practice of discrimination” based on race and sex.

“This hiring justification policy appears to be just one component of a broader effort by Minnesota to engage in race- and sex-based employment practices pursuant to “affirmative action” objectives,” wrote Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division in a letter to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

“I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether Minnesota is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above.”

The DHS policy, established in 2002 but recently updated as a standalone rule starting Aug. 12, bars supervisors from offering a job to a non-diverse candidate in an underrepresented position without first receiving approval by the department’s equal opportunity and access division. Underrepresentation is defined as when “the full-time equivalent representation of one or more protected groups is less than that group’s estimated availability in the relevant geographic area and labor force.”

The rule lists protected groups as women, persons with disabilities and Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaskan natives.

The policy further requires hiring managers to have interviews with at least three underrepresented candidates if the hiring pool has three or more people who fall under protected groups.

If the manager’s candidate pick is elevated over a more qualified applicant who falls into an underrepresented group, the supervisors are required to document objective reasons for their choice, including: Minimum qualifications, the candidate’s preferred qualifications, interview score, requirements within the position’s description, candidate references and background check results.

The department said the policy, issued last week, is to ensure the office “meets affirmative action responsibilities” to comply with state law and increase the “diversity of its workforce to reflect and effectively serve its client base.”

Failure to follow the rule, the policy said, could result in either a delay or denial in approving a hire or escalate into disciplinary action, including termination.

In its letter announcing the the launch of the investigation, the DOJ told Attorney General Keith Ellison its investigators have not yet reached any findings in the matter and intend to set up a time to discuss the case’s parameters.

A spokesperson for Ellison declined to comment and deferred to DHS.

“The Minnesota Department of Human Services follows all state and federal hiring laws,” the human services department said in a statement, noting that state law has required justification for “non-affirmative action” hires for some vacancies since 1987.

The case is now the second investigation opened in Minnesota by the DOJ’s civil rights division. In early May, the department announced a civil rights investigation into the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office shortly after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty implemented a policy asking prosecutors to consider racial identity in plea deals and charging decisions.

The DOJ’s civil rights division also recently opened a similar probe into the University of California system’s hiring practices over its plan to boost efforts to hire diverse faculty members.