Court upholds termination of engineer for refusing DEI training
An engineer in the United States was fired after refusing to participate in the organisation's mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training.
Charles Vavra, an estimator and engineer for Honeywell, was fired in 2021 after he refused to participate in his organisation's mandatory bias training in 2020. The training followed a series of communications from Honeywell to employees on the theory of race and racial relations following the killing of Georgy Floyd in Minnesota.
The engineer believed that the training was discriminatory in nature and was told that if he didn't take the training, "that would be it."
Vavra, in his complaint filed in 2021, said he could not "in good conscience" take the training, which led to his termination.
A trial judge dismissed this complaint in 2023, which the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Wednesday.
According to the court, Vavra's presumption that a video on preventing unconscious bias at work would vilify white people was "purely speculative."
It was also insufficient to make his belief objectively reasonable, Reuters reported.
The ruling came amid growing anti-DEI sentiments in the United States. Retail firm Tractor Supply recently announced that it is withdrawing its DEI measures following "disappointed" customers.
Some executives there have also introduced a new hiring principle called "MEI," which is supposed to oppose DEI measures in the workplace.
