Fired employees file First Amendment lawsuit against EPA

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Six former Environmental Protection Agency employees on Wednesday filed a First Amendment legal challenge against EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for terminating their employment because they protested what they said was the politicization of science under the Trump administration.

The employees were fired earlier this year after publicly signing an open letter to Zeldin calling out the agency for endangering public health and allowing politics to dictate scientific research.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is representing the fired employees, said that the EPA of President Donald Trump has undermined the First Amendment’s free speech protections and has also put the public in danger by removing experienced employees from their environmental protection work at the agency.

The EPA placed 139 employees on administrative leave in July after they signed the dissent letter, with the EPA saying it has “zero tolerance” for those sabotaging the government’s agenda.

KEY CONTEXT

Earlier this year, the Trump administration instructed agencies to work with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has recently been dissolved, to identify targets for mass layoffs as part of restructuring plans. DOGE made dramatic forays across Washington in the early months of the president’s second term to rapidly shrink federal agencies, cut their budgets or redirect their work to Trump’s priorities.

The EPA said in July it is cutting the size of its workforce by at least 23% and closing its scientific research office as part of the president’s broad effort to downsize the federal government.

KEY QUOTE

“The agency has the burden to prove that the employees engaged in misconduct and that this misconduct was severe enough to interfere with the employee’s work or another legitimate government objective,” said Daniel Rosenthal, a partner at James & Hoffman, which represents unions and employees.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Aurora Ellis)