Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Court orders administrative stay in suit by intelligence officers on DEIA-related temporary assignments, (Feb 19, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Director of National Intelligence
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
The intelligence officers allege that they are “being fired because of their assumed beliefs about a domestic political issue, and losing their property interest in their employment without due process of law.”
In a lawsuit brought by 11 nonpartisan civil servants serving as highly-trained U.S. intelligence officers, who were serving in temporary assignments related to DEIA within the Intelligence Community at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) implementing federal civil rights laws, the officers allege that on January 22, 2025, they were placed on administrative leave, “apparently only because of their temporary assignments to personnel functions involving DEIA.”
Allegations. They allege in their lawsuit that ODNI, CIA, and their respective directors violated the Administrative Leave Act by placing them on administrative leave for more than 10 workdays in the absence of any individual accusation of misconduct. Citing their imminent termination, they also allege that the defendants’ actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and their First and Fifth Amendment rights. They allege that they are “being fired because of their assumed beliefs about a domestic political issue, and losing their property interest in their employment without due process of law.”
On February 17, 2025, they filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, seeking to prevent the defendants from terminating them and those similarly situated, or placing them on leave without pay.
Administrative stay. On February 18, the court issued an order entering an administrative stay in the case “until further order of this Court, during which, Defendants shall refrain from terminating Plaintiff John Does 1-6 and Jane Does 1-5 or placing these Plaintiffs on leave without pay, such that, these Plaintiffs shall continue to be on administrate leave with their full pay and benefits.” It ordered the defendants to file a response to the motion for a TRO and continued a hearing on the motion until February 24, 2025.
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia; the case is No. 1:25-cv-300 (AJT/LRV).
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