AFT President Calls Federal Appeals Court Ruling in Florida a ‘Major Victory for the First Amendment’

WASHINGTON—In response to the ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act,” which prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion training or discussion of “divisive concepts” by employers, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:

“This ruling makes clear: The workplace is not an appropriate venue for Ron DeSantis’ divisive culture-war politics and blatant attacks on free speech. The extremist attempt to put a finger on the scale by penalizing certain viewpoints is just one of many attempts to control speech by characterizing it as conduct, and today that effort was rejected. In a democracy, we cannot label opinions we don’t agree with as conduct that must be limited.

“As the ruling states, ‘No matter how controversial the ideas, allowing the government to set the terms of the debate is poison, not antidote.’  These laws limiting workplace speech are not only unpopular; now they’re illegal too. It’s a major victory for the First Amendment and for all of us who believe that a law designed to discriminate against certain views is antithetical to the very principles on which our country was built.”