New 42 worker files bias lawsuit

Kevin Ray works as a part-time teaching artist at New 42, a New York-based nonprofit theatre organization that runs rehearsal studios, youth programs, and children's theatre in Times Square. Ray has filed a lawsuit against the organization in Federal Court for discriminating against white employees. 

According to the lawsuit, Ray, who is white, alleged that the diversity programs implemented by New 42 included "racially discriminatory propaganda and lectures promoting discriminatory ideology on the basis of race." Ray said he was asked to join a conversation about a "white affinity group" and alleges that the organization had designed a "white-identifying break-out room". The lawsuit reads "In reality, 'diversity training sessions' were race-based indoctrination sessions that promoted the division of employees on the basis of race."

By filing the complaint, Ray is asking the court to determine that New 42 violated the federal rights act and local human rights laws. Additionally, Ray asks to be awarded an unspecified amount for damages. The lawsuit is backed by an organization called Foundation Against Intolerance and Racisms, the foundation challenges the forms of discriminatory overreach used by organizations trying to implement diversity programs.

Source: New York Times