UC System Under Federal Investigation For Alleged Discriminatory Hiring Practices - LAmag
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a broad civil rights investigation into the University of California system over claims that its faculty hiring practices may involve race- and sex-based discrimination, potentially violating federal law
Hillah Greenberg • June 27, 2025 The Los Angeles Hall of JusticePhoto by Chris NicholsThe U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division has launched a sweeping civil rights investigation into the University of California (UC) system, including its individual campuses, over allegations that its faculty hiring practices may violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
At the center of the inquiry is the UC system’s ambitious “UC 2030 Capacity Plan,” a strategic initiative intended to expand educational capacity, improve diversity, and meet state-wide workforce demands. According to the DOJ, elements of the plan focusing on race – and sex – based metrics for faculty hiring may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.
The DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs issued a press release on Thursday, June 26, 2025, announcing the opening of the investigation and including a formal notice letter to UC President Michael Drake. In the letter, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated the Department’s intent to determine whether the UC system has engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful employment discrimination in violation of federal law.
“Our investigation is based on information suggesting that the University of California may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race and sex in violation of Title VII… We have reason to believe the University of California’s ‘UC 2030 Capacity Plan’ precipitated unlawful action.”
While the DOJ emphasized that it has not reached any final conclusions, it confirmed that a full investigation is underway to assess whether UC’s directives have resulted in systemic and legally impermissible discrimination in hiring. Further, Dhillon took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her stance.
Identity-based hiring is not only wrong — it is illegal!
The @CivilRights is investigating alleged serious violations of equal opportunity in employment by the UC system. Public employers ignore our civil rights laws at their peril.
? https://t.co/IJ7KjHEdgSpic.twitter.com/ISIagmA1JM
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) June 26, 2025
Introduced by President Drake, the UC 2030 Capacity Plan outlines a vision for statewide educational expansion. The plan aims to address projected demographic changes by increasing enrollment, boosting degree attainment, improving outcomes for underserved regions, and expanding the university’s faculty and infrastructure to meet future workforce needs. In the plan’s introduction, President Drake outlines objectives such as expanding “enrollment projections, degree attainment, increasing diversity, supporting underserved regions, and meeting workforce demands.” Page 11 of the plan explicitly commits to “growing and diversifying the faculty,” with an emphasis on positioning the UC system as a future “Hispanic-serving and minority-serving” institution.
Although the plan stops short of mandating hiring quotas, it frequently emphasizes that growth of faculty and student populations should “better reflect and tap the talent of underrepresented populations who represent the majority of Californians.” According to the DOJ, these stated goals combined with hiring initiatives that allegedly track and measure faculty recruitment by race and sex raise legal concerns under Title VII. The DOJ asserts that such actions may constitute impermissible employment discrimination under federal law, which forbids public employers from making hiring decisions based on protected characteristics, even in pursuit of diversity-related outcomes.
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“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended, protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Title VII protection covers the full spectrum of employment decisions, including recruitment, selections, terminations, and other decisions concerning terms and conditions of employment. See EEOC guidance on race/color, religion, sex, sexual harassment, pregnancy, and national origin discrimination” (See Protections Against Discrimination and Other Prohibited Practices from the Federal Trade Commission)
Under Title VII, employers, including public universities, are prohibited from engaging in discrimination based on protected characteristics. These protections cover all employment actions, including recruitment, hiring, promotions, compensation, and terminations. While Title VII allows for narrowly tailored affirmative action programs in some circumstances, these efforts must meet strict constitutional scrutiny and cannot operate as de facto quotas. The DOJ’s Employment Litigation Section is now tasked with investigating whether the UC system’s plan amounts to a “pattern or practice” of illegal discrimination under this statute.
In addition to Title VII, the UC system also faces potential exposure under California Proposition 209, a 1996 voter-approved amendment to the California Constitution. Proposition 209 (Article I, § 31) bans state institutions like public universities from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to individuals based on protected characteristics in public employment, education, and contracting. While Title VII regulates employment practices under federal law, Proposition 209 imposes an even stricter state-level prohibition: it does not allow any affirmative consideration of race or sex, regardless of intent. Whereas Title VII might permit race-conscious hiring to remedy past discrimination under narrowly defined conditions, Proposition 209 categorically bans it.
If the DOJ investigation concludes that the UC system’s hiring practices violated Title VII, it would likely trigger further state-level legal review under Proposition 209. A violation of federal law would strengthen claims that the university also breached its obligations under California’s constitution. That could prompt parallel investigations by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing or lawsuits filed in state court. The resulting consequences may include public audits, court-ordered injunctions halting discriminatory practices, forced revisions to university hiring policies, and significant reputational and financial fallout.
The DOJ’s investigation comes at a time when the UC system is already facing scrutiny on multiple fronts, including ongoing criticism regarding its handling of antisemitism on campuses. In March 2025, the DOJ also opened an inquiry into UC Berkeley and other campuses related to concerns about religious discrimination (particularly antisemitism) and hostile campus climates.
In response to the current Title VII investigation, UC officials have maintained their position that the university’s programs comply with all relevant laws. “The University of California is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws,” said Rachel Zaentz, Senior Director of Strategic and Critical Communications at the UC Office of the President. On social media, Meredith Turner, UC’s Senior Vice President of External Relations and Communications, reiterated the system’s commitment to equity and excellence. Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General Dhillon underscored that public employers “are bound by federal laws that prohibit racial and other employment discrimination” and that “institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law.”
?I want to be clear on the facts: @UofCalifornia does not use quotas. Period. The university follows federal and state anti-discrimination laws, all of which prohibit using race, ethnicity, or sex as criteria in public employment, education & other areas. https://t.co/ObMwCQmp9K
— Meredith Turner (@UC_Newsroom) June 27, 2025
As the investigation proceeds, the University of California system stands at a legal and political crossroads, caught between their visions of a diverse higher education system and strict legal mandates prohibiting discrimination. The outcome of this case may redefine the limits of diversity initiatives in public universities nationwide, with implications far beyond California.
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