CBS Got the Cause Wrong. It’s Not the Anti-DEI Movement—It’s Misogynoir.
CBS, ABC News, and other mainstream outlets finally noticed something we’ve been screaming about: more than 300,000 Black women left the workforce between February and April of 2025. The unemployment rate for Black women jumped to 6.7%, and economists are calling it a “warning sign.”
Mainstream outlets blame three factors: corporate America’s retreat from DEI, small business challenges, and federal government layoffs. These are symptoms, not the root cause. The anti-DEI movement isn’t the cause—it’s merely the latest weapon in a centuries-old war against Black women. The real culprit? Misogynoir.
Understanding Misogynoir: More Than Racism, More Than Sexism
Misogynoir is a term coined by Black feminist writer Moya Bailey in 2008 to describe the combined force of anti-Black racism and misogyny directed toward Black women. This isn’t racism plus sexism. It’s a unique form of oppression grounded in intersectionality theory—analyzing how race, gender, class, age, ability, and sexual orientation interrelate in systems of oppression.
And here’s what makes this especially insidious: race and gender are federally protected classes under employment law. When misogynoir operates in workplaces, it violates the law. Yet Black women are losing jobs at crisis levels, and mainstream sources can’t—or won’t—name the root cause.
Misogynoir started during enslavement and continues through codified archetypes that position Black women as subservient, hypersexual, and troublesome. These stereotypes became embedded in Western society. They didn’t disappear. They adapted. They evolved. And they’re operating right now in American workplaces, pushing 300,000 Black women out.
The word choice matters here. These women weren’t “leaving” the workforce—they were “fired,” “laid off,” or “forced to quit due to intolerable conditions.” Language matters because it obscures the policy-driven crisis and implies voluntary exits when the truth is forced displacement.
This is a $37.2 billion GDP loss, but more importantly, it represents systematic segregation.
How I See Misogynoir Manifest
I’m a Black woman employment lawyer. I don’t just study this phenomenon—I represent Black women living through it. I see the patterns. I read the complaints. I hear the stories. And I’m here to tell you: misogynoir isn’t abstract theory. It’s daily reality for Black women navigating hostile workplaces.
How JLG Can Help: Obtaining the Justice Black Women Deserve
I’m not just writing this article to diagnose the problem. I’m writing it because JLG understands that misogynoir isn’t abstract theory—it’s actionable discrimination.
Our Approach: Intersectional Legal Strategy
We understand that Black women’s experiences cannot be separated into “just race” or “just gender.” That’s the entire point of intersectionality—and it’s the entire point of naming misogynoir.
Traditional civil rights law often forces plaintiffs to choose: is this sex discrimination or race discrimination? For Black women, that question is impossible to answer. Because misogynoir is both. Always.
JLG brings an intersectional approach to employment law. We examine the full employee lifecycle for violations. We connect the dots from the lowball offer to the blocked promotion to the forced exit. We show the pattern. We prove the case.
California courts permit plaintiffs to bring discrimination claims based on multiple protected characteristics in a single action under FEHA. In Martin v. Board of Trustees of California State University, 97 Cal.App.5th 149 (2023), the plaintiff successfully alleged discrimination based on gender, race, color, and sexual orientation, claiming he experienced discrimination because he is a middle-aged, light-skinned, Mexican-American, and cisgender male. Similarly, in Kuigoua v. Department of Veteran Affairs, 101 Cal.App.5th 499 (2024), the plaintiff asserted causes of action for unlawful gender, sex, and sexual orientation discrimination alongside claims for race, color, and national origin discrimination. These cases demonstrate that FEHA’s statutory framework accommodates claims involving multiple protected characteristics, allowing plaintiffs to seek redress for discrimination based on the intersection of various aspects of their identity.
Our Legal Framework
Protected class violations. Race and gender discrimination claims fall under Title VII. When misogynoir operates, it violates California and federal employment law. We know how to build these cases.
Hostile work environment claims. That pattern and practice of daily microaggressions, tone policing, gaslighting, isolation? That creates an unlawful hostile work environment. We document it. We prove it. We fight it.
Retaliation claims. When you speak up about discrimination and suddenly your performance reviews tank, your projects get reassigned, your job is eliminated? That’s retaliation. It’s illegal. We hold employers accountable.
Constructive discharge. When conditions become so intolerable that you’re forced to quit? That’s not “leaving” the workforce voluntarily. That’s constructive discharge. It’s legally actionable. We pursue these claims.
Wage and compensation claims. Lower pay offers, uncompensated labor leading ERGs, invisible emotional labor—these violate equal pay laws. We calculate what you’re owed. We demand full compensation.
Economic Justice: Full Compensation
At JLG Lawyers, we pursue economic justice—full compensation for lost wages, lost benefits, lost career advancement opportunities, and the emotional distress of enduring workplace misogynoir.
When you were tokenized, underpaid, and pushed out, you lost more than a job. You lost years of career trajectory. You lost retirement contributions. You lost professional opportunities. We calculate all of it. We demand all of it.
Systemic Accountability
Beyond individual cases, we pursue systemic accountability. We hold employers responsible for creating and maintaining cultures that enable misogynoir to flourish.
Sometimes that means challenging policies. Sometimes it means exposing patterns of discrimination against multiple Black women. Sometimes it means public accountability through litigation that forces companies to change.
If This Is Your Story, We Fight For You!
If you’ve been tokenized, underpaid, gaslit, or tone-policed…
If your expertise has been discounted and your legitimacy questioned…
If you’ve carried invisible emotional labor and led ERGs without compensation…
If you’ve experienced burn out, isolation, and racial battle fatigue…
If you’ve been pushed out, forced to quit, or constructively discharged…
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You deserve justice. Contact JLG.
We see you. We believe you. We fight for you.
We’re ready to fight.
Latrice Burks-Palmerio, Esq. (AKA #blkgrlmgclwyr) is an Associate Attorney at JLG Lawyers with a robust background in pre-litigation and litigation. Previously, she worked at an AM 100 law firm focusing on business litigation. She currently represents employees in cases of wrongful termination, discrimination, workplace harassment, and retaliation. She has prevailed in employment matters against various Fortune 500 companies. Several of Latrice’s clients are women of color who experience workplace discrimination. Latrice is a champion for equality of all types.