Alpha News reported the Upper Midwest Law Center in Minnesota is representing a handful of Minnesotans in their fight against Critical Race Theory training.
The people in healthcare and the state government must “present their claims to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before proceeding with the lawsuit.”
The law center filed a lawsuit against the Lakeville Area Schools in federal court this week.
Tara Gustilo served as the OB-GYN chair at Hennepin Healthcare System, but got demoted after she spoke out about the CRT “saturating her organization“:
Gustilo, a Filipino-American doctor, discussed the rich diversity of her background at Monday’s press conference.“It’s with a heavy heart that I’m bringing this lawsuit forward. My reasons for doing so are similar to my reasons for speaking out in the first place,” she said. “I see a racist and divisive ideology of race essentialism taking over our nation and my institution. Further, there seems to be this growing intolerance for people with different opinions or ideas and it seems that this tribalistic ideology is fostering that kind of intolerance.”
Gustilo started a program to help others “better understand the varying traditions and cultures of the diverse community” around them. CRT took over:
“However, I noticed that members of the department instead began to transform the program from one that simply sought to respect and appreciate the various cultures to one of segregated care based on race,” she writes in her complaint.Gustilo also objected to her department’s public support of a Black Lives Matter event, a group she opposes because of its advancement of CRT. The event also violated HHS policy against affiliating with political groups, she writes.A third element of her complaint alleges that HR and “the medical executive team” took issue with some of her anti-CRT Facebook posts, which they said hindered her “ability to lead.”
Gustilo did not appreciate that her colleagues assumed she would embrace CRT since she is a minority.
Native American Joe Norgren claims he had to retire after 27 years at the Minnesota Department of Human Services because he refused “to subscribe to CRT and abandon [his] religious beliefs”:
Norgren, a Native American, was required to participate in a training on “How to be Anti-Racist” and another called “Understanding Gender Identity and Expression.”He participated in the first training, which taught him that America is the “source” of “racist ideas,” but asked for a religious exemption to the second. His request was denied.Norgren claims that he faced similar religious discrimination in October 2018 when his supervisor asked him “how many genders existed.”“While I felt uncomfortable answering, because he was my supervisor and I was on shift, I responded that I believed there were only two genders and two sexes, based on everything I read and researched on DNA and biology,” he writes in his complaint. “As we continued to discuss and disagree on this topic, he told me I could be fired for the way I think or talk.”
Like Gustilo, Norgren accused his superiors of discrimination because they “attempted to indoctrinate me with the views and theories on race that they believe I should subscribe to as a person of color.”
Three parents sued the Lakeville Area Schools over the “Inclusive Poster Series.” The schools allowed Black Lives Matter posters but did not approve All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter posters. Students and teachers cannot wear clothing with those saying, too:
According to the lawsuit, the school district launched an “Inclusive Poster Series” in April that included displays with the “Black Lives Matter” slogan.“At Lakeville Area Schools, we believe Black Lives Matter and stand with the social justice movement this statement represents. This poster is aligned to School Board policy and an unwavering commitment to our Black students, staff and community members,” read a caption underneath the posters.District taxpayers like the Cajunes reportedly asked for alternative ideological viewpoints to be presented alongside the posters. They were told that the district “does not approve of All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter posters in the classrooms or other areas of the school, and teachers/school staff are not allowed to wear shirts with these sayings to school.”
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