Education Department tossed 3,400 civil rights complaints since mass layoff
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The Education Department dismissed more than 3,400 civil rights complaints in about three months under the Trump administration, per a July court filing.
Why it matters: The Education Department has pledged to clear its backlog of civil rights complaints despite closing half of the offices that investigate the allegations.
- The department's Office of Civil Rights investigates allegations of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability or national origin.
- The grounds for dismissing a case are limited, Politico reported, and advocates have raised concern about the high dismissal rate under the current administration.
By the numbers: Between March 11 and June 27, the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights received 4,833 complaints, while 3,424 were dismissed (some of which were filed prior to that period).
- 96 were resolved after an investigation didn't yield evidence to make findings, and 290 were resolved with voluntary agreements.
- The office opened 309 complaints for investigation with 26 directed investigations.
Context: Hundreds of the department's civil rights employees were laid off in March when the agency also shuttered seven of its 12 civil rights enforcement offices.
- In May, a federal judge in Massachusetts ordered the department to reinstate nearly 1,400 fired employees.
Zoom out: The Office of Civil rights has been resolving investigations at a slower pace than the Biden administration, Inside Higher Ed reported, despite the high rate of dismissals.
- During the last three months of his presidency, the office had 595 mediated or voluntary resolutions; 2,527 dismissed cases; and found no violation in 119 cases.
Go deeper: The latest blow to civil rights in the workplace
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the 3,424 dismissed complaints between March 11 and June 27 included some complaints filed prior to that period.
