Federal officials are investigating allegations of racial segregation within the Baltimore City Health Department over a racial equity training that separated employees by race.

The Department of Justice announced the probe Wednesday, a day after Fox45 reported on the training. The workshop on “Undoing Racism” placed employees into separate groups, the “white caucus” and “people of color caucus.”

The “white caucus,” the DOJ said, consisted of white employees who met to strategize ways to challenge systemic racism and white supremacy, among other things. Neither the Justice Department nor Fox45 described what activities the “people of color caucus” engaged in. The training, which occurred from 2022-24, reportedly cost $50,000. The Baltimore City Health Department did not respond to a request for comment from The Banner.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release that investigators will assess whether the city’s health department is violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

“Separating employees into training groups based on their race is discriminatory, illegal, and un-American,” Dhillon said. “Such practices are divisive and foster a racially hostile work environment.”

In a letter to Mayor Brandon Scott, Dhillon said acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Sell would lead the investigation. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office confirmed it received the letter and would comply with any lawful investigation.

Sell led the DOJ’s probes into alleged discriminatory employment practices at the University of California and in the state of Minnesota. He was the inaugural Shillman legal fellow for the Center for American Liberty, a nonprofit that’s behind cases involving faith-based schools and transgender children.