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ABA must ‘stop treating people based on DEI’ to comply with law, group leader says

Four conservative public interest groups and law firms have recently lodged a Title VII complaint against the American Bar Association, accusing it of racial and sex-based discrimination.

American Civil Rights Project Executive Director Dan Morenoff told The College Fix via phone interview the ABA’s “judicial clerkship programs” are the clearest breach of the law among all of its programs.

The ABA’s website states the program aims to promote “full and equal participation by all lawyers.”

Further, only women, those with a disability, those who “identify” as LGBTQ+, people of color, or those who have “overcome social or economic disadvantages” will be considered for the program.

The ABA must “stop treating people based on DEI” if they plan to comply with the law, Morenoff (pictured) told The Fix.

He also said the organization’s leaders are seemingly of the opinion that they have structured their organization such that employment law does not affect.

However, the organization of lawyers is providing employment through their placement, training, and selection of individuals into programs covered by Title VII, which applies to organizations with 15 or more employees, Morenoff said.

The group “employs approximately 800 individuals, so [it] is clearly subject to Title VII’s constraints,” the complaint states.

The ABA did not respond to email requests for comment on the complaints in the last week.

Morenoff also told The Fix that President Donald Trump’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could sue the ABA if it agrees its actions are illegal. The EEOC, which received the complaint, oversees compliance with statutes like Title VII and can initiate lawsuits to protect employees’ rights.

However, if the EEOC declines or delays, the ACR Project has a client ready to litigate independently, Morenoff said.

MORE: ABA stops excluding whites from clerk program

Another partnering plaintiff, Skylar Croy, told The Fix the case’s importance stems from the ABA’s role as the “exclusive accreditor of law schools.”

Croy, associate counsel of conservative law firm WILL, said it’s one thing to require applicants to be diverse without defining what that means, but that’s not what’s happening here. The clerkship program is “straight up illegal,” he said.

“They haven’t been called out on it consistently for that long” and there’s finally a spotlight on the group’s misconduct, Croy said.

However, a previous complaint from WILL, filed in 2024, did elicit some changes from the ABA. Various programs like judicial internships, clerkships, scholarships, and fellowships, were all included in the previous complaint.

According to the most recent filing, the initial complaint caused the organization to “[scrub] its webpage” and “alter descriptions” of some programs, but not all.

Croy told The Fix “It was very frustrating that they took the position that ‘we just updated our website,’” adding that “they knew they were in the wrong.”

Now, WILL is urging the ABA to establish a “color-blind” criteria, according to the conservative law firm’s recent news release.

“I think the American people have said this is enough,” Croy said.

He also said it is just a matter of time until more complaints are filed against the ABA. “I have a feeling this going to change under Trump,” he said, adding that he hopes funding will be pulled from the organization.

MORE: Law schools must adopt free speech protections to maintain ABA accreditation

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