Tenth Circuit applies an "extremely high" bar to reverse-discrimination claims over DEI training
A federal appeals court has rejected a White employee's claim that DEI training created a hostile workplace – again.
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 11, 2026 affirmed the dismissal of Young's lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections. Young, a former employee, claimed a racial sensitivity training program and what followed it created a hostile work environment for White workers and pushed him to resign. The court said no – for the second time.
Young attended one training session at the department. He quit four months later. He then sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1981, a related federal civil rights statute, arguing the training made the workplace hostile to White employees.
To win, Young had to show the workplace was "permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult" severe or pervasive enough to change the terms of his job. Judge Bacharach, writing for the panel, called that bar "extremely high."
Young pointed to specific training content. A glossary, he alleged, defined "race" as an unscientific concept used to justify White people's oppression of minorities. It defined "white exceptionalism" as a belief by some Whites that they aren't racist despite perpetuating white supremacy, and "white fragility" as White discomfort when confronted with information about racial injustice. The department denied using the...
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