ASU professor who says he was harmed by DEI training wants Arizona Supreme Court to let him sue

An Arizona State University professor wants to sue the Arizona Board of Regents over a training course about diversity, equity and inclusion. But first he’ll need the Arizona Supreme Court to rule on whether he has the right to make his case.

Owen Anderson argues ASU violated an anti-DEI state law by forcing him to undergo training he claims had a negative and discriminatory narrative against white people like himself.

But the state court of appeals ruled last year the law in question doesn’t explicitly give employees like Anderson the right to sue their employer. In this case, that’s the Arizona Board of Regents.

“This state, a state agency or a city, town, county or political subdivision of this state may not require an employee to engage in training, orientation or therapy that presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex,” the statute states.

An attorney for the conservative Goldwater Institute, Jon Riches, said the ruling undermines state law and Anderson has an “implied right of action” to sue.

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Hear an interview with Owen Anderson on KJZZ's The Show

Sam Dingman

Back in 2024, ASU philosophy professor Owen Anderson filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents, over what he said was a university-mandated DEI training.

Listen • 9:03

“If the lower court’s decision is allowed to stand then so many laws, including this one, would just be a nullity. They would be totally unenforceable,” Riches said.

Attorneys for ABOR are asking justices to uphold the lower court ruling. ABOR also disputes that the training Anderson took issue with was mandatory.

Anderson said this is all an employee rights issue, rather than a political issue. He asked critics to put themselves in his shoes.

“Well, I think the hurt is in taking the training, and so I would ask them to consider it from their perspective if they were asked to sit through hours of training that involved racial discrimination against a group they identify with, they would be offended by that and feel hurt. So the hurt — the consequence — is just in the fact that I had to sit through that,” he said.

The court has the matter under advisement and could issue a decision any time in the coming months.

If the Supreme Court determines that he has the right to bring the case forward, Anderson says he intends to go to trial.

Ultimately, Anderson is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, which would include the board admitting they are in the wrong and stop DEI training.