Harmeet Dhillon is Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Yesterday she put the state of Minnesota on notice that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is investigating the state for possible hiring discrimination in violation of Title VII. The notice came in the form of Ms. Dhillon’s letter to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Temporary Commissioner Shireen Ghandi. Here is the heart of it (footnotes omitted:
Our investigation is based on information that Minnesota may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race and sex in violation of Title VII. Specifically, we have reason to believe the Minnesota Department of Human Services is engaging in unlawful action through, among other things, the adoption and forthcoming implementation of its “hiring justification” policy.
This policy purports to require “hiring supervisors” to provide a “hiring justification when seeking to hire a non-underrepresented candidate when hiring for a vacancy in a job category with underrepresentation.” The policy defines “underrepresented candidates” to include “females,” and racial “minorities” who are “Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander,” “American Indian or Alaskan native.” Employees who fail to comply with this policy “may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.” 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. Accordingly, I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether Minnesota is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above.
The first of five omitted footnotes cites Minnesota Department of Human Services, Hiring Justification (issued July 1, 2025).
The Star Tribune sought a comment from Ellison. Ellison’s spokesman declined to comment and deferred to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Not that the Star Tribune noticed, but the DHS spokesman gave the game away:
“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.
Please note that the DHS quote is internally inconsistent. The factual second sentence contradicts the conclusory first sentence and establishes that the illegal conducted has persisted in state government for two generations. The Star Tribune did not ask the DHS spokesman to reconcile the two statements. Unfortunately, the Star Tribune did not ask the DHS spokesman to reconcile the two statements.
The government of the state of Minnesota is permeated with racist employment practices run by racists. Jenna Gloeb serves up a shocking if timely example in the Alpha News story “Minnesota HR director now on leave after saying ‘white folk’ are ‘morally bankrupt’ and ‘liars.’” Subhead: “Minnesota Pollution Control Agency HR Director Vonnie Phillips then called an Alpha News reporter a ‘f-cking rotten b-tch’ from his official state email.”
