In today’s news and commentary, the U.S. Department of Justice welcomes new hires and forces reassignments in the Civil Rights Division; the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments in Brown v. Alaska Airlines Inc.; and Amazon violates federal labor law at its air cargo facility in Kentucky.

Bloomberg Law reports that the U.S. Department of Justice recently welcomed new hires to the Civil Rights Division of the department, as well as forced reassignments. These personnel shifts are a reflection of the Trump administration’s massive overhaul of the department’s priorities as the focus has moved away from police abuse and bias and towards election integrity and diversity programs in the workplace and at universities. For example, numerous employees in the department’s housing discrimination section have been moved to the voting section, and several from the immigration and employee rights section are now in the employment litigation section. Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, posted a photo on X welcoming the new lawyers to the Civil Rights Division, noting that they are the newest “Civil Rights Warriors.”

Meanwhile, on Friday, August 22^nd, the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in Brown v. Alaska Airlines Inc., a case that two former Alaska Airlines’ employees brought forth after being fired for making comments about the harmfulness of the Equality Act, a bill prohibiting discrimination of the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, to religious freedom and women’s safety in the restroom. The employees sued the airline under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The airline argued that it fired the employees because their comments about the Equality Act violated the company’s anti-discrimination policies, while the employees contend that they lost their jobs because of their religious beliefs. The airline’s attorney, Lauren Parris Watts, reasoned that it is legal to fire employees whose conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even where such conduct is based on religious beliefs since there are religions that are not in congruence with Title VII. This case will be critical in answering the dilemma between protecting religious liberty and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. 

Lastly, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in a pair of decisions that Amazon violated federal labor law through illegal union busting activities at its air cargo facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Kentucky. The facility has been home to several organizing efforts to address pay issues and cost-of-living increases. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Arthur Amchan notes that some of Amazon’s tactics include illegally surveilling workers involved in a rally, intimidating union supporters with unnecessary badge checks, and disciplining workers engaged in union activities. However, Amchan dismissed some of the allegations against Amazon, including that the company did not violate labor law in its discharge of three workers named in one of the complaints.