On Sept. 28, 2026, the Ninth Circuit revived a white employee’s hostile work environment claim against the City of Seattle arising in part from the city’s mandatory race-related workplace training and diversity initiatives. The decision provides an important reminder that Title VII’s protections against race discrimination apply equally to employees of all races, and that employers should carefully review the content and implementation of race-conscious workplace training.
The plaintiff, Joshua Diemert, alleged that Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative subjected him to repeated race-based hostility. Among other things, Diemert alleged that during a workplace training, a facilitator compared white people to the “devil” and made other derogatory statements about white people. Diemert also alleged that the hostility extended beyond the training itself when coworkers allegedly questioned what he could contribute as a white male, called him a “colonist” and a racist, and attributed atrocities to white people generally. He further alleged that managers discouraged him from pursuing certain opportunities in favor of employees from marginalized groups.
The district court dismissed Diemert’s claims, but the Ninth Circuit concluded that his hostile work environment claims under Title VII and Washington state law should proceed to trial. Importantly, the Ninth Circuit did not hold that workplace diversity or bias training is inherently discriminatory. Rather, it concluded that such programs can violate anti-discrimination laws when, viewed together with other workplace conduct, they create a sufficiently severe or pervasive hostile work environment based on an employee’s race. The court concluded that the repeated and explicitly race-based comments alleged by Diemert were sufficient to create a factual question for a jury.
Employers do not need to abandon workplace training addressing discrimination, bias or diversity as a result of the decision. They should, however, ensure that those programs do not stereotype or assign blame to employees based on race or other protected characteristics. Employers should also take complaints about potentially discriminatory training or related workplace conduct seriously regardless of the complaining employee’s race. As the Ninth Circuit’s decision demonstrates, even otherwise lawful workplace initiatives can create potential Title VII exposure when their implementation contributes to race-based hostility in the workplace.
