TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay businesses are fighting back against the state, tackling the governor's anti-woke messaging.
Monday a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that a portion of the state's Individual Freedom Act, also known as the "Stop WOKE Act" is unconstitutional.
This specific lawsuit targets the part of the act that applies to businesses in the state. Three of them are represented, two are based in Tampa Bay.
"I knew I had to stand up, not just for me, but for everybody," Antonio McBroom said.
He's the Visionary Franchise Developer for Primo Tampa. The group is leading the first two black owned Ben and Jerry's locations in Clearwater and Tampa.
"When the governor originally signed this, my initial reaction was one of shock really. The government can't come into someone's business and rule parts in a dictionary are out of bounds, because they don't like some of the words," McBroom said.
His business is one of many who've fought the law since it was signed years ago. Despite it being passed back in 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis is still sticking firm to his message — anti-wokeness is alive and well in Florida saying the state "is where WOKE goes to die."
"The 'Stop WOKE Act' applies in three areas. It applies to private employers, public colleges and universities and it applies to higher education," said Shalini Goel Agarwal, Special Counsel at Protect Democracy.
The non-profit backed businesses in their fight against DeSantis' law after they came together and filed the lawsuit just before it took effect. Agarwal says they're happy the court is on their side.
"The speech it's targeting is, DEI speech. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that a lot of businesses engage in. We believe that's unconstitutional and infringes on First Amendment rights," Agarwal said.
The newest ruling from 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with business saying the act commits "First Amendment sin by penalizing certain viewpoints."
"We feel like first amendment rights or first amendment rights. Diversity trainings, make sense for our employees," said Sara Margolis, the CEO of Honeyfund.
She moved her business to Florida back in 2017. The women-run company now based in Clearwater helps couples plan their honeymoons.
"We serve all kinds of couples! Everyone gets married. Love is love and we feel it's important for our employees to understand the diverse customers that we serve," Margolis said.
Governor DeSantis' office disagrees with the court's most recent decision saying:
“Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that companies have a right to indoctrinate their employees with racist and discriminatory ideologies. We disagree with the Court’s opinion that employers can require employees to be taught—as a condition of employment—that one race is morally superior to another race. The First Amendment protects no such thing, and the State of Florida should have every right to protect Floridians from racially hostile workplaces. We are reviewing all options on appeal going forward.”
With Governor DeSantis' office highlighting that all appeals are on the table, these businesses and their lawyer say they will fight back should the ruling be appealed yet again. The lawyer says an appeal would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.