The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools on Tuesday, alleging a provision in the district’s union contract shielding teachers of color from seniority-based layoffs is discriminatory and violates the Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, marks the latest move in the Trump administration’s campaign to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across education, business and government.

The policy at issue requires the district to skip over teachers from “underrepresented populations” during seniority-based layoffs or involuntary reassignments. If the district calls back laid-off teachers, it must first reinstate teachers from those “underrepresented populations.”

A spokeswoman for Minneapolis Public Schools said the district does not comment on active litigation. Minneapolis teachers union president Marcia Howard replied “#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles,” when reached by text for comment on the suit.

The district adopted the policy in 2022 in its labor contract with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers as part of a deal to end a 14-day strike.

The teachers union pushed for the protections because teachers of color tend to be younger, and traditional “last-in, first-out” layoffs work against the district’s goal of recruiting and retaining a more diverse teaching force.

Around 20% of Minneapolis teachers are people of color, while roughly two-thirds of their students are. Studies have shown that a diverse teaching corps improves outcomes for students of all races.

The union contract says the purpose of the policy is to “remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination by the district,” but the Department of Justice argues there isn’t evidence of past discrimination. It also quotes Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, writing in a case over school desegregation programs, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

The Minneapolis policy doesn’t explicitly mention race — a deliberate feature aimed at helping it withstand legal challenges — and could apply to teachers from other underrepresented groups, such as LGBTQ and multilingual teachers. But the Department of Justice contends that “underrepresented populations” is just a proxy for race, color or national origin.

The lawsuit also takes aim at memorandum of agreement in the union contract under which the district partners with Black Men Teach, a nonprofit devoted to expanding the number of Black male teachers. The agreement gives Black Men Teach fellows a “concurrent” hiring process for positions at Nellie Stone Johnson Community School and exempts them from layoffs.

The Department of Justice argues the arrangement is discriminatory because female and non-Black teachers are not eligible to be Black Men Teach fellows.

Minneapolis Public Schools previously defended the policy in a separate lawsuit brought soon after its adoption by a city resident, Deborah Clapp, with backing from the conservative legal foundation Judicial Watch. Clapp argued she was harmed as a taxpayer having to fund a discriminatory policy.

In January, the Minnesota Supreme Court tossed out her case, finding she didn’t have standing, and her attorney vowed to appeal to President Donald Trump to investigate the “blatant civil rights violation,” Sahan Journal reported at the time.