The Judge hearing a lawsuit filed against six Federal agencies asked specifically to hear from the head of Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Charles Ezell had submitted an affidavit and the Judge wanted to see him questioned. This all started a few weeks ago when OPM issued an email firing hundreds of probationary employees. So
The war on Federal workers continues. After the “Fork in the Road” email, the Musk/Trump next step has been to fire probationary employees. One estimate holds that there are 200,000 workers in their first year of Federal employment, making them probation employees. Many termination emails have been issued. A regular Federal employee can appeal any
The Office of Special Counsel has not done much for me or my clients in the past. But, it is always there as a backstop. The OSC receives and investigates whistleblower claims submitted by Federal workers. They are typically overwhelmed with too many complaints and not enough investigators. Which is probably why they were not
It starts with Project 2025. Right off the bat, the Project 2025 book claims Federal workers are not held accountable. I previously wrote about that propaganda book here. As any Federal worker knows, all employees of the U.S. government receive an evaluation every year. Many private employers cannot make the same claim. I just
His name is Joe. Joe cleans tables at a coffee bar I frequent. Joe has limited functioning. Whatever his diagnosis is, he could be on the severe end of the autism spectrum. Joe does a great job at keeping the tables clean and performing “hey you” tasks. Even though Joe is tall and big enough
In employment lawsuits, the nub of the matter is often the alleged pretext. The employer argues the personnel decisions as completely normal and free of discriminatory bias. The plaintiff argues the opposite, that the employer’s decision does not withstand scrutiny. In Texas Tech Univ. Health Sciences Center v. Flores, No. 22-0940 (Tex. Dec. 31
The decision in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, 590 U.S. 644 (2020) was rendered in 2020. In that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a long-standing issue: does Title VII apply to homosexual based claims? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex. Does “sex” include same sex?
Federal judges are judges for life. Pauline Newman was appointed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in 1984. The court hears patent claims and customs issues. In 2023, responding to complaints by staff that Judge Newman was being abusive, the judicial council for the Federal Circuit suspended Judge Newman, saying she had shown signs
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has been overruled a few times in the past few years. You know a court is too conservative when it is too conservative even for the very conservative U.S. Supreme Court. In the latest example, a group of five plaintiffs filed suit in the Western District of Louisiana objecting
Summary judgment is the employer’s go-to defense to a discrimination lawsuit. For a few decades now, many Federal judges have used summary judgment as a tool for clearing his/her docket. But, in Dabassi v. Motiva Enterprises, No. 23-20166 (5th Cir. 7/16/2024), the court of appeals reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. In