The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has submitted a class action lawsuit to the Federal Employment Commission, encouraging employees to think about terminating staff who have participated in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and accessibility initiatives.
File two orders President Trump’s signature revisited Election Day, focusing on DEI and accessibility (referred to as DEIA) concerns, particularly targeting those reassigned prior to the inauguration.
“EOS Implementation [executive orders] Capitalize on their political bias by singling out individuals rather than positions [reductions in force] and by claiming the exclusion of employees the government identified as having worked on DEIA on November 5, 2024, during the Presidential Election,” the lawsuit asserts.
The complaints lodged with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) state these workers faced “illegal repercussions for their alleged political ties.”
“The presidential administration cannot revert us to the darker times in history regarding the notion that government disdain for something is a breach of the First Amendment,” commented Scott Michelleman, ACLU-DC’s legal affairs director, in a statement.
“The pursuit of individuals for roles they no longer occupy reveals the administration’s genuine intent: to penalize employees whose values conflict with the president’s radical agenda.”
The complaint suggests that “Trump directly associated the DEIA initiative with his Democratic predecessor, Joseph R. Biden.”
It also alleges that the terminations potentially contravene civil rights laws and that employees are discriminated against based on gender and race.
The MSPB temporarily reinstated some workers terminated by Trump, including a significant number of probation employees. Typically, probation workers hired in the past year or within two years must be dismissed for specific reasons.
Other staff addressing DEI and accessibility matters have previously filed legal claims outside of the MSPB.
Several CIA personnel temporarily reassigned to DEI and accessibility roles faced accusations while on administrative leave and confronting pending investigations.
“None of these employees’ actions are unlawful, and the agency employing the plaintiffs asserts that they are not engaged in wrongdoing individually, nor are they underperforming,” the lawsuit claims.
