Ropes & Gray Team Secures Broad Injunction Permanently Enjoining Florida's Stop WOKE Act

Ropes & Gray, along with co-counsel Protect Democracy, recently secured a statewide permanent injunction ending enforcement of the employer provisions of Florida’s HB 7, also known as the Stop WOKE Act. The Florida federal district court had previously issued a preliminary injunction, which was affirmed by a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit earlier this year. The Act, which had been announced and subsequently touted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, had banned the endorsement of certain concepts that are central to the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings conducted by many Fortune 500 companies. A number of other states have attempted to enact or have been contemplating similar anti-DEI legislation.

Plaintiffs in this case were Florida honeymoon registry company Honeyfund and Ben & Jerry’s franchisee Primo Tampa (a majority black-owned business), along with workplace diversity consultancy Collective Concepts and its co-founder Chevara Orrin.

Plaintiffs secured a resounding win for all similarly situated individuals and entities in Florida looking to conduct workplace DEI trainings. In the court’s order granting the unopposed motion to convert the earlier preliminary injunction into a permanent injunction, Chief Judge Mark Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida confirmed the “entry of a statewide permanent injunction,” and he subsequently entered a judgment officially declaring that the Stop WOKE Act “violates free speech rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,” as well as “permanently enjoin[ing]” the State “from implementing, operating, or enforcing” the Stop WOKE Act. This latest ruling has garnered significant attention in media outlets such as CNN, Fox News, and Politico.

The Ropes & Gray team is led by partner and chair of Ropes & Gray's appellate and Supreme Court practice Doug Hallward-Driemeier and litigation & enforcement partner Amy Jane Longo, and includes litigation & enforcement associates Phil Yao, Nathalia Sosa, and Jason Claman. The team was also supported by summer associate Margaret Sannicandro, as well as senior litigation paralegal Mark Callahan.