White teacher declares victory after union allegedly tried to block him from board position over his race

EXCLUSIVE – A California teachers union that blocked White teachers from applying for a position because of their race quickly folded in federal court after three months in litigation, which the plaintiff thought could take years. 

Isaac Newman, a teacher in the Elk Grove School District, filed a federal lawsuit against his local, The Elk Grove Education Association for allegedly violating his Title VII civil rights. The suit, spearheaded by The Fairness Center, alleged that a "BIPOC" seat on the union's executive board did not permit White applicants, so it was in violation of law. 

"My lawsuit is a victory for racial equality," Newman told Fox News Digital. "This is a massive victory, and we have forced them to within the space a couple months to surrender and admit that they were wrong."

As part of the terms, the union ended the segregated board seat, committed to non-discriminatory practices, and offered to pay Newman $12,000 and his attorneys’ fees.

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"I'm going to run for their board to hold them accountable," Newman said. He also said he would donate the settlement to charity. 

If he gets on the board, Newman will try to reverse course on the "insane" diversity, equity and inclusion training for teachers in the district. 

"I got to a point where I'm like, 'this is insane. I'm not taking any more of these trainings,'" he said. "I actually asked the district, 'What happens if I don't take the trainings?' and they refused to tell me. So they actually won't tell me the consequences, just that they're mandated." 

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The district used Epoch Education, the head of which called employees who don't accept concepts included in critical race theory, like White privilege, are a "poison to culture and climate." The equity trainer also believed the American flag was becoming a symbol of "hate" and "extremism." 

Newman plans to get the leadership position to challenge the status quo. 

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"It's the same union and leadership that had refused to support my grievance against the racism that was apparent in the training," which he believed implied "that being White makes you racially, morally inferior." 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Elk Grove union for comment. 

"I assumed it was going to be a pretty long battle. So it hasn't fully sunk in that that we've won this first battle here. But, of course, the fight is not over," Newman concluded. "I'm heartened to think that this will inspire others who are facing similar situations stand up. [To know] that, in fact, you can make a difference. And shockingly, even in California." 

Newman’s lawsuit cited Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, both of which prohibit unions from racial discrimination.

"Based on union officials’ immediate capitulation to Isaac’s demands, it’s clear that they thought they didn’t have a legal leg to stand on to defend their segregated board seat," said Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel for the Fairness Center. "Isaac’s win affirms that unions don’t get a pass on anti-discrimination law."

China opts out of international blueprint to stop AI race in weapons development

China this week chose not to sign onto an international "blueprint" agreed to by some 60 nations, including the U.S., that looked to establish guardrails when employing artificial intelligence (AI) for military use

More than 90 nations attended the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit hosted in South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, though roughly a third of the attendees did not support the nonbinding proposal.

AI expert Arthur Herman, senior fellow and director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative with the Hudson Institute, told Fox News Digital that the fact some 30 nations opted out of this important development in the race to develop AI is not necessarily cause for concern, though in Beijing’s case it is likely because of its general opposition to signing multilateral agreements.

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"What it boils down to … is China is always wary of any kind of international agreement in which it has not been the architect or involved in creating and organizing how that agreement is going to be shaped and implemented," he said. "I think the Chinese see all of these efforts, all of these multilateral endeavors, as ways in which to try and constrain and limit China's ability to use AI to enhance its military edge."

Herman explained that the summit, and the blueprint agreed to by some five dozen nations, is an attempt to safeguard the expanding technology surrounding AI by ensuring there is always "human control" over the systems in place, particularly as it relates to military and defense matters.

"The algorithms that drive defense systems and weapons systems depend a lot on how fast they can go," he said. "[They] move quickly to gather information and data that you then can speed back to command and control so they can then make the decision.

"The speed with which AI moves … that's hugely important on the battlefield," he added. "If the decision that the AI-driven system is making involves taking a human life, then you want it to be one in which it's a human being that makes the final call about a decision of that sort."

Nations leading in AI development, like the U.S., have said maintaining a human element in serious battlefield decisions is hugely important to avoid mistaken casualties and prevent a machine-driven conflict.

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The summit, which was co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom, was the second of its kind after more than 60 nations attended the first meeting last year held in the Dutch capital.

It remains unclear why China, along with some 30 other countries, opted not to agree to the building blocks that look to set up AI safeguards, particularly after Beijing backed a similar "call to action" during the summit last year. 

When pressed for details of the summit during a Wednesday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that upon invitation, China sent a delegation to the summit where it "elaborated on China’s principles of AI governance."

Mao pointed to the "Global Initiative for AI Governance" put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in October that she said "gives a systemic view on China’s governance propositions."

The spokesperson did not say why China did not back the nonbinding blueprint introduced during the REAIM summit this week but added that "China will remain open and constructive in working with other parties and deliver more tangibly for humanity through AI development."

Herman warned that while nations like the U.S. and its allies will look to establish multilateral agreements for safeguarding AI practices in military use, they are unlikely to do much in the way of deterring adversarial nations like China, Russia and Iran from developing malign technologies.

"When you're talking about nuclear proliferation or missile technology, the best restraint is deterrence," the AI expert explained. "You force those who are determined to push ahead with the use of AI – even to the point of basically using AI as kind of [a] automatic kill mechanism, because they see it in their interest to do so – the way in which you constrain them is by making it clear, if you develop weapons like that, we can use them against you in the same way.

"You don't count on their sense of altruism or high ethical standards to restrain them, that’s not how that works," Herman added.

Reuters contributed to this report.