Arizona Supreme Court to review standing in DEI lawsuit

The Center Square ^ | 6/10/16 | Zachery Schmid

[CFW]

The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about whether a university professor has legal standing to sue his employer after being forced to take diversity, equity and inclusion training courses.

Arizona’s highest court will hear oral arguments in Anderson v. Arizona Board of Regents on Sept. 1. Arizona State University professor Owen Anderson, who teaches philosophy and religious studies, sued the Arizona Board of Regents in 2024 over being required to complete DEI training.

Anderson previously told The Center Square that the DEI training he had to take singled out white skin “as something that could be morally judged” and had “anti-Christian rhetoric.”

Jon Riches, an attorney for the Goldwater Institute who is working on the case, told The Center Square on Tuesday that the Arizona Board of Regents sought to dismiss Anderson’s lawsuit after he filed it, saying he did not have any legal basis to bring it.

The trial court ruled against the board, but an appeals court reversed that ruling in 2025, he added. The Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, filed its petition with the state Supreme Court in February.

Anderson said he is “very excited and happy” that the Arizona Supreme Court announced it will hear his case.

The case is important for employees' rights, the professor said.

“What’s at stake right now is that if I don’t have any standing, this means that every ASU employee loses standing going forward. ASU is trying to position itself to be untouchable legally by any of its employees,” he noted.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: academia; arizona; dei; education; university

[CFW]

When it comes to "standing", I think the current standard is that Democrats always have standing but conservatives never do.