Florida could be required to pay attorney fees for businesses that successfully challenged a portion of the 2022 law known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Tuesday, attorneys for the businesses filed an 11-page motion requesting a judge to declare that the plaintiffs are entitled to recover legal fees and costs.
This motion followed a ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, who issued a permanent injunction against a part of the law that aimed to restrict businesses from addressing race-related issues in workplace training.
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The permanent injunction was granted four days prior to the motion, following a decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year, which upheld a preliminary injunction issued by Walker in 2022. Both Walker and the appeals court concluded that the restrictions violated First Amendment rights.
The motion for attorney fees described the plaintiffs’ success as “resounding” and seeks to recover fees for both district-court and appeals-court proceedings. “Plaintiffs did not just achieve some benefit but rather achieved the key benefit they sought in bringing this suit: enjoining enforcement of the unconstitutional Stop WOKE Act,” the motion stated.
The contested part of the law listed eight race-related concepts and stated that any required training program or activity that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individual (an employee) to believe any of the following concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.”
Primo Tampa, LLC, a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream franchisee; Honeyfund.com, Inc., a Clearwater-based technology company providing wedding registries; and Chevara Orrin and her company, Collective Concepts, LLC, which offers consulting and training on diversity, equity, and inclusion, challenged the law.
If Judge Walker decides that the plaintiffs are entitled to attorney fees, the specific amount will then be determined.
Additionally, Walker has issued a separate preliminary injunction against another part of the law that restricts how race-related concepts can be taught in universities. The Atlanta-based appeals court held a hearing on that case in June.
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