14-05-2025
Group claims EPA bars environmental justice staff from other jobs
The Trump administration is illegally blocking employees in EPA's environmental justice program from seeking jobs elsewhere in the agency, a worker advocacy group alleges.
At issue are staffers who were forced to take paid leave in a prelude to their potential firing as part of President Donald Trump's governmentwide crusade against programs purportedly tied to 'diversity, equity and inclusion.'
'Our understanding is that employees on administrative leave are denied access to email (where positions are often advertised internally) and hiring systems such as Talent Hub where open position descriptions are posted and through which candidates may apply,' Laura Dumais, staff counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a letter last week.
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The lockout violates a variety of requirements embedded in federal law, Dumais added, including the right to compete for employment and a ban on discrimination 'on the basis of non-performance-related factors.' She asked EPA to immediately grant all idled staff access to its email system and to Talent Hub.
