The Chicago Bears appear to have reached a settlement to end a lawsuit accusing them of discriminating against white males when hiring for positions through a special "diversity" legal jobs program.
On Aug. 28, U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain indicated in an item posted to an online court docket that the Bears had reached a "binding settlement agreement" with plaintiff Jonathan Bresser Jr.
The docket posting from Judge McShain does not specify any of the settlement terms nor does it indicate if the settlement will be be made public. However, she directed the parties to "file a stipulation to dismiss ... as soon as possible."
According to the docket entry, the settlement agreement was reached on Aug. 27 at a settlement conference with Judge McShain.
Neither the Bears nor attorneys for Bresser responded to a request from The Cook County Record for comment.
Bresser, identified as a white male law student at DePaul University, filed suit in March in Chicago federal court.
In addition to the Chicago Bears organization, the lawsuit also names as defendants Bears Chairman George McCaskey; Bears vice president of human resources Elizabeth Geist; Bears senior vice president and general counsel Cliff Stein; Bears senior vice president of diversity equity and inclusion Tanesha Wade; and others within the Bears organization who either work within the human resources department or serve on the organization's "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council."
According to the lawsuit, Bresser sought to respond to a job listing posted by the Bears in November 2023, seeking applicants from Chicago law schools for its "Legal Diversity Fellow" position.
According to the lawsuit, the Bears specifically listed in the job posting that applicants must be "a person of colar and/or female law student." The job ad also listed other qualifications for the position, including "a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale;" "demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality;" "excellent research and writing skills;" "proficient in Microsoft Office ... and Adobe Acrobat;" and "demonstrated ability to effectively manage and prioritize multiple projects ..., deadlines and initiatives with minimal supervision."
In his lawsuit, Bresser said he was notified in mid-December by LinkedIn that a representative of the Chicago Bears had viewed his LinkedIn profiled, which included his photograph that would easily reveal him to be a white male.
About three weeks later, Bresser said a representative of the Bears informed him by email that the Bears had denied his application for the "Diversity Fellow" post, saying the Bears "[had] chosen to pursue other applicants whose experience and qualifications more closely match [their] needs."
Bresser asserted his resume, application and work and education history met or exceeded all of the standards listed by the Bears, except for his skin color and gender.
According to the complaint, Bresser believes the Bears selected someone who was not a white male, like himself, for the post.
Bresser filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and obtained a "right to sue" letter from the agency, as he was required by law to do before filing his lawsuit.
He said he was contacted the very next day by the Bears inviting him to "submit his transcript for his fall grades," allegedly in a bid to cover themselves after receiving a copy of his right to sue letter from the IDHR.
The lawsuit accuses the Bears of violating federal and state civil rights laws by discriminating against him on the basis of race and sex. He further accused the Bears of creating disparate impact race and sex discrimination, also in violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act.
The organization's "conspiracy was part of a broader discriminatory pattern of implementing employment policies intentionally discriminatory against Plaintiff's protected classes and said policies permeated the ranks of the organization's employees, from the executive drafting and approval of the policies to the implementation by individuals in reviewing applications for employment," Bresser wrote in his complaint.
"The conspiracy permeated amongst multiple levels of authority and throughout multiple distinct departments within the organization inclusive of, without limitation, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Department, the Human Resources Department, the Legal Department, and others."
The lawsuit sought a court order directing the Bears to end hiring practices based on race and sex. Bresser and his lawyers also sought a payment of unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees.
Bresser is represented by attorneys Marc P. Trent and Daniel Nikolic, of the Trent Law Firm, of Oakbrook Terrace.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bresser works at the Trent Law Firm.
The announcement of the settlement comes at the same time as a number of large corporations across the country have abruptly ended so-called "DEI" hiring programs and other policies promoting alleged race and sex discrimination against employees and job applicants who are white and heterosexual male. Those policy changes have come about, in large part, due to pressure from activists and lawsuit threats.
Neither the Bears nor Bresser's attorneys responded to questions from The Record asking if the settlement would include changes to the Bears hiring practices or organizational DEI policies.