Justice Department opens discrimination investigation into Chicago city hiring practices

The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office Monday to inform him they’ve opened an investigation into the city’s hiring practices.

The letter, dated Monday, accuses the City of Chicago of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in its hiring practices for state and local government employees.

The letter says Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the investigation be opened based on information “suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”

The DOJ letter was a lightning-fast reaction to comments made by Mayor Johnson on Sunday at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn. The mayor talked at the church about the number of Black officials in his administration.

This was the comment that set the investigation in motion:

“The deputy mayor is a Black woman. The Department of Planning and Development is a Black woman. Infrastructure deputy mayor is a Black woman. Chief operations officer is a Black man.  Budget director is a Black woman. Senior advisor is a Black man. And I’m laying that out because when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business? Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone — and everyone means you have to look out for the interest of Black folks, because that hasn’t happened.”

The Justice Department citing that exact moment in a letter to Mayor Johnson on Monday.

“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” wrote Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general with the DOJ Civil Rights Division. “If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions.”

Title VII of the Civil Rights act prevents employment discrimination, but there are major exceptions to it. These include hiring at churches, and political appointments — like Johnson’s senior staff whom he listed Sunday.

“They would not be employees under Title VII, so even if it were true that he was going out of his way to hire people of a particular race, that would not violate the law,” said Carolyn Shapiro of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Shapiro said the DOJ assumption that since Johnson’s senior staff is mostly Black, there is discrimination at play, is a leap.

“It’s an enormous leap to say that because Brandon Johnson’s top deputies and policymaking positions are African American, that the city is discriminating on the basis of race in its hiring of ordinary, non-policy making employees,” said Shapiro.

Mayor Johnson has previously been called to Capitol Hill by conservative legislators who are angry over Chicago’s sanctuary city status. The mayor has also been a repeated target of the Trump White House, and has compared President Trump’s policies to terrorists.

Mayor Johnson’s team released this statement late Monday:

“Mayor Johnson is proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city. Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either. We are aware of the letter issued by the Department of Justice, but are awaiting the official receipt of the letter. Our Corporation Counsel will review it at that time.”

Late Monday, Mayor Johnson’s team offered the racial makeup of his 105-employee staff:

• 34% are Black.
• 30% are white.
• 23% are Hispanic.
• 7% are Asian
• 5% are two or more ethnicities

The DOJ is asking the mayor to reach out to continue the investigation, and to provide materials to them as needed.