Invoking the “upside down world” depicted in Netflix drama, Stranger Things, the federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida blocked Florida’s Individual Freedom Act (IFA) on constitutional grounds. Honeyfund.com Inc. v. Ron DeSantis et al., No. 4:22-cv-00227 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 18, 2022).

Signed in April 2022, the IFA went into effect on July 1, 2022. It prohibited, among other things, employers from requiring training, or any other mandatory activity, endorsing certain sex- and race-related concepts.

Background

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nicknamed the IFA the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which stands for “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.” The law’s stated purpose was to protect individual freedoms and prevent discrimination in the workplace and in public schools.

The law expanded Florida Statutes Section 760.10 of the Florida Civil Rights Act to provide that it is discrimination to subject a person, as a condition of employment, to training that endorses various race- and sex-based concepts, but by its terms permitted employers to subject employees to “objective” discussion about them.

The Decision

The federal district court took issue with the IFA on constitutional grounds and enjoined its enforcement.

The plaintiffs, including employer Honeyfund.com and certain providers of employer training, on June 30, 2022, moved to preliminarily enjoin the defendants from enforcing the law and the state defendants separately moved to dismiss.

The plaintiffs...

Read Full Story: https://www.jacksonlewis.com/publication/federal-court-blocks-florida-s-indiv...