On Aug. 18, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker suspended a portion of Florida's Stop "Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees" (WOKE) Act, a controversial bill backed by state Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts how companies and schools discuss certain aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).

Florida companies that have 15 employees or more could have faced civil lawsuits if they were found to have violated the law. Walker noted that the court would refuse to issue a stay of the injunction while a potential appeal from the state is pending.

We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other media outlets.

Judge Says Bill Violates Free Speech

Walker blocked the employer portion of the law, saying it violated free speech. He called the bill's policies "bordering on unintelligible" and compared parts of it to being in a parallel dimension called "the upside-down" from the fictional TV show "Stranger Things."

(Politico)

Lawsuit Led to Ruling

The suspension of the bill comes as part of a lawsuit filed by honeymoon registry company Honeyfund in Clearwater, Fla., and workplace diversity consultancy Collective Concepts in June 2022. The law prevents Honeyfund from getting DE&I training for its employees, while Collective Concepts would have to stop providing such training to other Florida companies.

(Axios)

ACLU Files Separate Lawsuit Against Florida

On Aug. 18, the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, Legal Defense Fund and law firm Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit on...

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