In the federal government’s appeal to the Seventh Circuit in Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) v. Trump, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Institute for Women’s Policy Research, National Partnership for Women & Families, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Women Employed, and Legal Action Chicago (Amici) supporting affirmance of the preliminary injunction granted to CWIT earlier this year. The appeal concerns a provision of the January 21, 2025, Executive Order, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which requires federal grantees and contractors to certify, at risk of False Claims Act litigation, that they do not operate any program promoting unlawful DEI. The district court found that CWIT will likely succeed on the merits of its claim that the certification provision violates the First Amendment.
Amici’s brief explains what is at stake if the certification provision were to be enforced and provides the appellate court with important context for the legal issues in the case. In addition to highlighting why trades work represents a uniquely powerful opportunity for women to improve their and their family’s economic mobility, Amici detail how integrating women into the trades has broader benefits for skilled trades industries and the public alike, including by enabling construction employers to fill job vacancies with skilled laborers, improving workforce productivity, minimizing delays for customers, and boosting the national economy. Amici share statistical and experiential evidence reflecting that barriers like lack of exposure to trades opportunities and workplace sexual harassment continue to impede the integration of women in the trades, and they explain how enforcement of the certification provision risks upending decades of progress CWIT has made in addressing these barriers, to the broad detriment of the public interest.
The brief was prepared and filed by HSPRD attorneys Caryn Lederer, Kate Schwartz, and Justin Tresnowski.
