Today, Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) filed a lawsuit challenging recent executive orders that threaten vital workforce development programs serving our community. For more than 40 years, CWIT has prepared women for successful careers in the trades through comprehensive training and industry partnership programs. These executive orders put this essential work at risk. This action threatens not only our organization’s work but also the broader goal of building a skilled, diverse workforce that strengthens our entire industry.
We believe in creating fair access to opportunity and in standing up for our mission when it’s threatened.
Below is the full press release from Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law detailing the legal challenges.
For Immediate Release
February 26, 2025
Media Contact
LCrawford@lawyerscommittee.org
lawyerscommittee@fenton.com
Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration to Challenge Anti-DEI Executive Orders on Behalf of Nonprofit Serving Diverse Group of Women in the Skilled Trades
Washington, DC — Chicago-based nonprofit Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) filed a new lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders that severely restrict and chill Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Approximately 70 percent of CWIT’s participants identify as Black and Latina women. As a recipient of federal grant programs, the recent executive orders directly threaten to eliminate CWIT’s ability to continue its critical role in expanding economic opportunity and mobility for women. The executive orders call for the termination of “equity-related” federal grants and contracts, which nonprofits like CWIT rely on to provide life-changing services to women in non-traditional occupations. CWIT prepares women across the country to enter and build careers in the high-wage skilled trades. Black and Latina women remain severely underrepresented in this sector due to racial- and gender-based structural barriers, making CWIT’s work vital for opening doors to economic opportunity.
The executive orders create a dilemma: either discontinue providing critical services to historically marginalized communities for fear of triggering legal liability, or lose critical federal funding. In doing so, the anti-diversity executive orders silence organizations from providing vital programs and services that are core to their missions.
The lawsuit argues that the executive orders make no effort to define or describe the types of “DEI” activities or speech that might cause organizations to lose their federal funding or contracts. This has caused absurd results across federal agencies–from the U.S. Air Force temporarily removing training videos about the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II, to OSHA’s dismantling of workplace violence prevention resources. The lawsuit asks the court to declare sections of both executive orders unconstitutional and grant permanent injunctions to stop their future enforcement.
CWIT is represented by a team of civil rights lawyers from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and pro-bono counsel Crowell & Moring LLP, along with the National Women’s Law Center, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
“The President’s executive orders are part of a calculated effort to erode civil rights protections,” said Katy Youker, director of the Economic Justice Project at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not illegal, and efforts to promote them do not violate federal civil rights laws. In fact, federal civil rights laws were passed to forward these very principles. The Lawyers’ Committee is helping to take this matter to court to ensure the administration cannot overextend its powers to silence American values that promote equal opportunity.”
Executive Order 14173 also requires the head of each executive agency to cancel all financial assistance for “diversity,” “equity,” and “like” activities and to include in every contract or grant award a term mandating that recipients certify they do not operate any programs promoting “DEI,” even those falling outside of their federally-funded work. The lawsuit argues that these requirements exceed the President’s authority, as the Constitution does not give the President or other executive branch officials the right to usurp Congress’ spending power by unilaterally canceling congressionally authorized funds or conditioning grant awards to chill speech.
“This legal action defends programs that have opened doors for women in the trades for over 40 years,” said Jayne Vellinga, executive director of Chicago Women in Trades. “The executive orders in question threaten to dismantle equity-focused initiatives with proven success records. Despite our work, women still represent only 5% of Illinois’ construction workforce. The problem of equity is far from solved, and pretending that institutional barriers don’t exist won’t make them disappear. Our communities deserve better—they deserve programs that create real opportunities for economic mobility and strengthen our industries with skilled, diverse talent.”
“Equity is not a bad word; it’s a commitment to ensure that everyone—including Black and Brown people—has a fair shot at success,” said Sabrina Talukder, senior counsel with the Economic Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “CWIT’s programs open doors that were once locked to women because of gender- and race-based barriers. The pathways to economic opportunities that CWIT has forged help women put food on the table, address an industry-wide shortage of workers in the skilled trades, and fortify economic stability for all Americans.”
“The executive orders at issue here are a naked attempt to create confusion and make DEI a boogeyman,” said Gaylynn Burroughs, senior vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center. “We are proud to represent CWIT and fight this lawless attempt to push women out of good paying jobs in the trades and close off pathways of opportunity for women, people of color, and people with disabilities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t a threat to workers, but these unconstitutional actions to end equal access to opportunities are.”
“These executive orders attacking diversity and equity are not only unconstitutional, they are un-American. What makes this country great is the diversity of its people and the unique perspectives they bring to enrich our democratic institutions and workplaces,” said Aneel Chablani, vice president and legal director with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “These executive orders propagate a false historical narrative in an attempt to roll back hard-fought civil rights protections and we are proud to stand with our partners in challenging them.”
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not illegal—they are the foundation of a just and thriving society,” said Lourdes M. Rosado, president & general counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “Yet, these executive orders are an illicit, dangerous and deliberate attempt to roll back hard-won civil rights protections, creating fear and confusion to silence progress. LatinoJustice fully rejects these efforts and stands united with our partners in advancing equity and inclusion, affirming that every individual, regardless of race or background, deserves a fair chance to succeed and contribute to our shared future—no exceptions.”
Read the complaint here.
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights.
