\u201cBakersfield College has already subjected Professor Johnson to a lengthy and intrusive investigation merely for criticizing and questioning a colleague\u2019s views on RIFL\u2019s Facebook page,\u201d Johnson wrote in the most recent version of his civil complaint<\/a>. \u201cAlthough it ultimately cleared Professor Johnson of violating any actual rules, the process was the punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n In the suit, Johnson claims he\u2019s afraid to express his beliefs, both online and on campus, for fear of \u201cbeing subjected to further investigations and termination.\u201d<\/p>\n Diversity, equity and inclusion \u2014\u00a0sometimes paired with \u201caccessibility\u201d and called DEIA \u2014\u00a0is a broad set of policies and goals that have been adopted by a wide range of state and local governments, universities and businesses. They might include diversity goals for hiring and sensitivity training, or more controversial measures like unconscious bias training. Johnson and Garrett say DEI represents a sort of \u201cgroupthink\u201d that pressures everyone to conform to left-wing ideologies or be forever branded a racist.<\/p>\n While DEI policies were all the rage in the years following the George Floyd protests in 2020, they have fallen out of fashion since President Donald Trump outlawed them in the public sector at the beginning of his second term and started accusing private employers of discrimination against white people<\/a>. Diversity targets have also been the subject of numerous lawsuits, particularly in California.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state has recently doubled down on its commitment to the \u2018diversity\u2019 and \u2018antiracist\u2019 ideologies by adopting a set of regulations that command faculty to adhere to and implement these ideologies, in their very concepts of self and in every facet of their existence on campus, including in their curriculum and pedagogy,\u201d Johnson wrote in his complaint. \u201cObedience to the state\u2019s pervasive, all-encompassing political cult is now required to teach, work or lead within California\u2019s community colleges.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, a federal judge dismissed<\/a> the lawsuit for lack of standing, since Johnson had yet to experience any of the harms he was suing over. But three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit revived<\/a> the lawsuit last year on appeal, finding the teacher had \u201cadequately alleged a \u2018credible threat\u2019 of enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, U.S. District Judge Kirk Sherriff, who had previously dismissed the case, handed Johnson another partial victory, temporarily enjoining Bakersfield College \u201cfrom investigating, disciplining or terminating Johnson … based on Johnson\u2019s proposed social or political speech.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJohnson has shown that his intended speech would be in his capacity as a professor and would concern matters related to scholarship or teaching, or that it would be in his off duty capacity as a private citizen (including as a public academic),\u201d Sherriff wrote in his 27-page ruling<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ruling did not, however, \u201cpreclude defendants from requiring that Johnson take Bakersfield College\u2019s mandatory DEIA training to be eligible to serve on a faculty screening committee, and it does not apply to official speech as a faculty screening committee member.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs Johnson adamantly maintains that he will not take the DEIA training that is a prerequisite for service on a faculty screening committee, he fails to show a likelihood that he would serve on such a committee,\u201d the Joe Biden appointee wrote.<\/p>\n