Is the Stop WOKE Act dead in Florida? Not yet but in Honeyfund.com, Inc., et al v. Desantis, et al , one federal district court has certainly put the brakes on it. On March 29, 2022, we informed everyone about Florida HB 7, also known as Florida’s “Stop WOKE” bill, and how it would soon head to Florida Gov. Ron Desantis’s desk for signing. Shortly afterwards, on April 22, 2022, Gov. DeSantis signed Florida HB 7 into law. According to the Governor’s Office, the bill was created “to give businesses, employees, children and families tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination.” Specifically, the bill would prevent anyone from “feel[ing] as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race.” The Individual Freedom Act, dubbed the “Stop WOKE” Act, went into effect on July 1, 2022.
Plaintiffs, including employers Honeyfund.com and Primo, moved for a preliminary injunction to enjoin defendants, Gov. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and the Commissioner of the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR), from enforcing the law. On August 18, 2022, Chief United States District Judge Mark E. Walker of the Northern District of Florida deemed the Act unconstitutional.
Comparing the challenged provisions of the Individual Freedom Act to the storyline of popular television series Stranger Things, Judge Walker described the Act as a distorted version of the First Amendment, turning it “upside down.” Judge Walker ruled that because the challenged...
AIDS Healthcare Foundation will pay $1.44 million to resolve allegations that it violated federal law by submitting false or invalid codes to inflate payments from the Medicare Advantage program. ...