The Supreme Court Just Complicated Employer DEI Programs

The US Supreme Court’s ruling that a St. Louis police sergeant can sue over a job transfer she claims was discriminatory was championed by human rights groups as “an enormous win for workers.”

However, hours after the decision Wednesday, lawyers were warning that the outcome could have a chilling effect on employers’ diversity initiatives because it adds to questions about what’s legal.

Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow sued the City of St. Louis after she was reassigned from the department’s intelligence division on public-corruption and human-trafficking cases to a job in the city’s Fifth District. Though she was paid the same, ...