In a devastating blow to a signature law that was pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to restrict workplace trainings about race, an ultra-liberal federal judge permanently shut down a significant portion of Florida’s so-called Stop Woke Act on Friday.
In 2022, the GOP-dominated Legislature enacted legislation that broadened state anti-discrimination laws to encompass teachings on woke topics such as “white privilege” by establishing new safeguards for employees.
However, the “anti-woke” law for businesses in Florida has never been enforced, as it was promptly sued and ultimately determined by two liberal leaning courts to infringe upon the free speech rights as protected by the Constitution.
The law was challenged by a group of businesses, including the Florida-based Ben & Jerry’s franchisee Primo Tampa and the honeymoon registry technology company Honeyfund.com, as well as the workplace diversity consultancy Collective Concepts and its co-founder Chevara Orrin. The businesses claimed that the law required them to censor themselves.
However, attorneys for the DeSantis administration, who represent Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Florida Commission on Human Relations, have argued that the anti-woke law does not restrict any speech; rather, it merely regulates that employers cannot compel employees to listen to specific speech against their will at the risk of dismissal.
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