United States v. Board of Directors of Special School District No. 1, Minneapolis Public Schools
Case Overview
The United States, through the Department of Justice, brought a pattern-or-practice employment-discrimination action under Section 707(a) of Title VII against the Minneapolis Public Schools. The suit sought to invalidate two provisions of the collective-bargaining agreement between the district and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Local 59, including a 2022 amendment to Article 15 that created a race-based exception to the ordinary reverse-seniority rule for teacher layoffs. The government did not name the union as a defendant.
The Conclusion
On August 10, 2026, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz granted the school district's motion to dismiss in part and dismissed the complaint without prejudice under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(7). The court did not decide whether the challenged race-based provision is unlawful. It held instead that the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers is a required party under Rule 19 whose contractual rights would be affected, and that the case could not proceed 'in equity and good conscience' without the union, which the government had chosen not to join. The court declined to 'discard the Union's contractual rights without affording it the chance to defend those rights on the merits.' Because the dismissal is without prejudice, the government may refile.
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