Overview
- The National Federation of Federal Employees and seven USDA workers, which filed suit Wednesday in the Northern District of California, accuse Secretary Brooke Rollins of using official all-staff emails to promote Christian beliefs, with Americans United, Democracy Forward, and Bryan Schwartz Law representing them.
- The complaint highlights an April 5 Easter message that said “Jesus has been raised from the dead” and called the resurrection “the greatest story ever told,” and it points to earlier Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July 4 notes that praised God and did not recognize non‑Christian holidays.
- Plaintiffs say the agency-wide messages create a captive audience because employees must read emails from their boss that can include work updates, and some report feeling unwelcome and afraid to object, with one saying the tone suggested he was “going to hell.”
- The filing asks the court to declare the messages unlawful and to bar Rollins and other USDA officials from sending similar communications, arguing violations of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act.
- USDA declined detailed comment and said it would keep the plaintiffs “in our prayers,” while union and advocacy leaders cast the case as part of a broader fight over church–state boundaries in federal workplaces.