Conservative group sues Northwestern University law school for alleged hiring discrimination against white men
A conservative group has filed a lawsuit against the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law charging that it discriminates against white men in hiring faculty and in choosing articles for its law review. (Image from Shutterstock)
Spurred on by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ban of race considerations in college admissions, a conservative group filed a lawsuit against the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law on July 2, charging that it discriminates against white men in hiring faculty and in choosing articles for its law review.
The suit was filed by Faculty, Alumni and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences in federal court in Chicago on behalf of three unnamed white men who allege that they cannot compete for faculty positions.
Reuters and the New York Times have coverage of the suit.
America First Legal, a conservative legal group led by advisers to former President Donald Trump, along with conservative attorneys Jonathan F. Mitchell and Judd Stone, represent Faculty, Alumni and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences.
“This is the first of many lawsuits that will be filed against universities that refuse to implement colorblind and sex-neutral faculty-hiring practices,” Mitchell said in a July 2 press release.
Hari Osofsky, the dean of the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Daniel Rodriguez, the former dean of the law school, along with other law professors and law review editors, are named as defendants.
“We are proud of their outstanding faculty,” Jon Yates, vice president for global marketing and communications at Northwestern University, wrote in an email to the ABA Journal. “We intend to vigorously defend this case.”
The school is tied for ninth in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Law Schools rankings.
The suit asserts that of the last 21 faculty members hired, only three white men were given offers. The suit states that the law school policies “intentionally and consciously discriminate in favor of Black, Hispanic, Asian, female, homosexual and transgender faculty candidates.”
America First Legal previously has been involved in other, unsuccessful suits against law schools claiming discrimination against white men.
In late May, a suit charging sex and race discrimination against the New York University School of Law was tossed for lack of standing. The case asserted that the law review uses the statements “to give preferential treatment to women, non-Asian racial minorities, homosexuals and transgender people when selecting its members.” America First Legal represented the unnamed first-year law student.
This followed cases in 2018 against the New York University Law Review and the Harvard Law Review for discriminating against white men. Judges in each case ruled that Faculty, Alumni and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences lacked standing.
