Arizona State University religious studies and philosophy professor Owen Anderson challenged mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion training in a new lawsuit against the school.

Anderson received an email nearly two years ago cautioning that he must take an “inclusive communities” training course, complete a related quiz, and repeat the training every two years, according to a summary of his case from the Goldwater Institute. The professor understood that “if he failed to take the training that it would be reported to his supervisor,” while the answers he provided on the quiz would also be provided to the supervisor. Anderson viewed the training but did not complete the course or take the mandatory quiz.

The Goldwater Institute obtained the course materials last year through a public records request and determined that the training included divisive content based on race and sex, including with statements decrying “white supremacy” and “white privilege.” The course also claimed that “sexual identities are linked to power, and heterosexuality, the dominant sexual identity in American culture, is privileged by going largely unquestioned.”

Attorneys for the Goldwater Institute representing Anderson noted in the lawsuit that Arizona forbids government entities, including public universities, from forcing their employees to “participate in mandatory training programs” that present “blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex.” They also observed that the “inclusive communities” training effectively “compels the speech of public employees” by forcing them to choose certain answers.

The lawsuit comes several months after the Goldwater Institute sent a letter to the Arizona Board of Regents demanding that Arizona State University “immediately cease and desist from spending any public monies” on the program. The school continues requiring the course.

Mandatory diversity training required by public and private employers has garnered backlash in recent years as critics assert that they foment unnecessary division along demographic lines. Some states have passed legislation to pull taxpayer dollars from the controversial programs.