TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida may soon be on the hook for nearly $750,000 in legal fees after businesses successfully challenged a portion of the 2022 “Stop WOKE Act,” a law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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Attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a motion Friday seeking $749,642 in legal fees, along with an additional $41,144 in costs. The request follows a decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in August, which entitled the plaintiffs to seek fees after winning the case. The state has until October 28 to respond.
The case centered around part of the “Stop WOKE Act” that placed restrictions on race-related discussions in workplace training. In 2022, Walker issued a preliminary injunction, citing free speech concerns. That decision was upheld by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March, and Walker made the injunction permanent in July.
“It is hard to envision greater success than what plaintiffs attained in this case,” the motion for fees stated, adding that the rulings set important constitutional precedents. As a result, the plaintiffs can continue their diversity training programs “without fear of government encroachment on their free speech.”
The plaintiffs included Primo Tampa, LLC, a Ben & Jerry’s franchisee; Honeyfund.com, Inc., a Clearwater-based wedding registry service; and Chevara Orrin, founder of Collective Concepts, LLC, which provides diversity and inclusion training. They were represented by attorneys from Ropes & Gray LLP and the non-profit group Protect Democracy.
The motion detailed attorney fees ranging from $200 to $775 per hour, with reduced rates reflecting market norms in the Northern District of Florida, where the case was filed. Paralegal work was billed at lower rates. To strengthen their case, the plaintiffs’ lawyers noted that the state paid $725 per hour for its legal representation from the D.C.-based firm Cooper & Kirk.
READ: Federal judge permanently strikes down major portion of the so-called ‘Stop WOKE Act’
The “Stop WOKE Act,” officially the “Stop Wrongs To Our Kids and Employees Act,” was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature after a contentious debate. The law placed restrictions on workplace training programs, prohibiting content that promoted eight specific race-related concepts, which the law described as discriminatory.
For example, the law banned training that would compel employees to believe they bear responsibility for past actions of their race or sex. The state argued that the law regulated conduct rather than speech, allowing businesses to address the concepts but preventing them from forcing participation in training.
However, the appeals court pushed back, describing the law as an “attempt to control speech by recharacterizing it as conduct.” The court noted that the merits of these ideas should be debated in the “marketplace of ideas” rather than dictated by law.
In addition to the workplace training case, Walker issued a separate injunction against the law’s restrictions on university teachings. A ruling in that case is still pending after a June hearing by the appeals court.
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