A group of federal employees filed a class-action complaint Wednesday with a labor board claiming their constitutional rights were violated after they were fired for their involvement in implementing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The complaint was filed with the federal Merit Systems Protection Board in Washington, D.C., by Mahri Stainnak, a former deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management's DEI office. Three other federal workers will join the case after their terminations take effect in April, according to the complaint.
President Donald Trump in January ordered federal agencies to shut down DEI programs and barred federal contractors from adopting diversity policies that might be discriminatory. He also directed agencies to investigate DEI policies adopted by companies, schools and nonprofits.
Stainnak argued that targeting federal employees for termination based on their perceived political views and affiliations violates their rights under the First Amendment and disproportionately affected workers who are not white men.
Stainnak, who uses they/them pronouns, said they were fired in January despite recently moving from OPM's DEI office to a talent acquisition job that was not DEI-related.
"This administration was not attempting to reset priorities but to punish those it perceived supported its political opponents," Stainnak's attorneys wrote in the complaint.
Stainnak is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, among other groups and law firms.
The White House in a statement said: "Protecting the civil rights and expanding opportunities for all Americans is a key priority of the Trump Administration, which is why he took decisive actions to terminate unlawful DEI preferences in the federal government."
The merit board hears federal workers' appeals when they are fired or face other discipline. Cases are first heard by administrative judges, whose decisions are reviewed by a three-member board that currently has one vacancy.
Trump is attempting to remove Cathy Harris, the lone Democrat on the merit board who is still serving pending a legal fight.
The board has been inundated with more than 8,100 new cases since Trump took office in January amid his administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce.
The merit board can hear cases on a class-wide basis, but typically only does so for groups of workers at one agency who were affected by the same employment decision.
The complaint proposes a class of all federal workers who were fired or placed on leave "because the government associated them with the concepts of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.' " The complaint said it was not known how many people could be included in the class.