Overview
- The National Federation of Federal Employees and seven USDA staff filed the complaint in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday, seeking an injunction and a ruling that her agency-wide religious emails are unlawful.
- The suit highlights an April 5 Easter email that declared “Jesus has been raised from the dead” and featured “He is Risen” artwork, which the plaintiffs attached to the filing.
- The complaint describes a pattern of Christian-only messages on July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and says employees felt coerced and even warned that asking off the email list would “create trouble.”
- Americans United, Democracy Forward and Bryan Schwartz Law represent the plaintiffs, while USDA declined further comment and said it would “keep the plaintiffs in our prayers.”
- A ruling could clarify how the Establishment Clause applies to agency-wide emails and how workplace policies on noncoercion interact with leaders’ holiday greetings.