The new lawsuits follow other pending legal challenges against EPA, related to a June 2025 “declaration of dissent” signed by hundreds of agency workers.
The Environmental Protection Agency is facing further legal challenges from employees the agency fired last year for signing a letter critical of the Trump administration.
New lawsuits from seven former EPA workers allege that their 2025 terminations violated their First Amendment rights. The cases filed this week come on top of several other pending legal challenges against the agency, related to a June 2025 “declaration of dissent” signed by hundreds of EPA employees, some of whom were either suspended or fired.
Other EPA employees have turned to the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel to challenge the adverse actions. But the new lawsuits come from employees who were still in their probationary periods when they were terminated last year, leaving them with no option to appeal to MSPB.
In June 2025, hundreds of EPA employees signed a public “declaration of dissent,” which criticized EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s policies as reversing scientific progress and undermining public trust. EPA quickly launched an investigation into employees who signed the letter, eventually resulting in dozens of employees receiving proposed termination notices. Dozens more who signed the declaration were suspended without pay for two weeks or longer.
Join us July 21 – 23 for Federal News Network’s Space & Satellite Exchange where government and industry leaders will discuss advancing connectivity, resilience and mission reach. Register today!
The lawsuits on Tuesday were filed on the first anniversary of the “declaration of dissent” letter. They called for reinstatement and back pay for the fired probationary employees.
“One year ago, over a hundred EPA employees did something extraordinarily brave: they spoke out to defend science, public health and the EPA’s mission. For that, they were punished. But they are not standing alone,” said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, representing EPA workers.
The plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward and law firm James & Hoffman, P.C.
“Free speech is one of the foundational values of this country, and it applies to federal employees just like everyone else — we all have the right to express our opinions about government policies,” said Danny Rosenthal, partner at James & Hoffman. “But in this case, the EPA decided that respecting the First Amendment was less important than protecting its thin-skinned leaders from criticism.”
An EPA spokesperson declined to comment on the new lawsuits, citing a longstanding policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The new lawsuits, in part, argue that the employees’ speech is constitutionally protected. They also note that employees signed the 2025 declaration on their own time and without using agency resources.
“Probationary federal government employees, like all people in America, have the constitutional right to participate in public discussion and debate in their personal capacities, even when their speech is critical of the government,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said Tuesday. “The government has no right to retaliate against these civil servants because of a protected opinion they expressed while off the clock.”
Sign up for our daily newsletter so you never miss a beat on all things federal
A group of 21 Senate Democrats expressed support for the EPA employees’ new challenge against the agency, and called on Zeldin to reverse course, reinstate the terminated workers and remove the adverse actions from their personnel records.
“Overturning the punishments is crucial to prevent a chilling effect on free speech. Stifling dissent cripples the agency’s ability to protect the public and is causing the loss of the experienced staff needed to carry out EPA’s mission,” the lawmakers wrote Tuesday in a letter addressed to Zeldin. “Speaking the truth is not a fireable offense.”
Updated Wednesday morning with a response from an EPA spokesperson.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
Copyright © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Drew Friedman is a workforce, pay and benefits reporter for Federal News Network.
Follow @dfriedmanWFED
Leave a Reply