Law student’s suit alleges Chicago Bears didn’t hire him as ‘legal diversity fellow’ because he is white man
March 25, 2024, 10:05 am CDT
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A first-year student at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago claims in a lawsuit that the Chicago Bears football team refused to consider him for a “legal diversity fellow” position because he is a white man. (Photo from Shutterstock)
A first-year student at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago claims in a lawsuit that the Chicago Bears football team refused to consider him for a “legal diversity fellow” position because he is a white man.
Student Jonathan Bresser Jr. claims in the March 11 suit that he is qualified for the position because he has more than two years of experience as a litigation paralegal at the Trent Law Firm, which is also representing him in the case.
Law360 and Bloomberg Law have coverage, while JD Supra has analysis of the case, filed in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The suit includes a sentence from the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious university admissions programs at two schools.
“Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” the Supreme Court said, citing an earlier case.
A job posting emailed in November 2023 said the Chicago Bears team was looking for a “person of color and/or female law student,” according to the suit. Bresser applied, intending to submit his grades as a supplement to his application when they became available, as the job posting allowed.
Bresser was rejected Jan. 5, before he submitted his grades. The previous month, Bresser said, he received a notification that his LinkedIn profile had been viewed by a Chicago Bears employee. The LinkedIn profile included a photo.
On March 1, nearly two months after rejecting Bresser, the Chicago Bears requested Bresser’s grades transcript, “attempting to claw back” the rejection, the suit says. The request happened after the team received Bresser’s charge of discrimination and right to sue letter.
Bresser alleges race and sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act, race discrimination in contracting in violation of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, civil conspiracy, and conspiracy to interfere with civil rights in violation of Section 1985 of the Civil Rights Act.
A Chicago Bears spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by Law360.
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