Judge Kennelly on the Northern District of Illinois in a challenge to an E.O. prohibiting government contractors from using DEI programs. The plaintiff is a non-profit that conducts DEI trainings. Its stated injury is that the E.O. prevents it from working with companies that may contract with the federal government and so have canceled or will not hold DEI trainings.
The court initially granted a universal injunction prohibiting enforcement of that provision against anyone. Post-CASA, the court reissued the injunction with the same scope. The court explained that complete relief to the plaintiff requires an injunction that will leave it free to contract with anyone who might want its services. That means every company must be free of the limits of the E.O. in order to work with the plaintiff and still seek government contracts.
Read it for yourself. It has some elements of third-party standing (which we will discuss tomorrow) and it involves a First Amendment challenge, which alters standing analysis. But it shows that CASA still leaves courts room to craft broad remedies. Just don't call them universal.
