Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Top NIH official, removed after pushing back against anti-vax sentiments and clinical trial cancellations, files suit, (Dec 18, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Office of Special Counsel
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
“I spoke up because the decisions by HHS leadership have put the public’s health at risk and wasted billions of dollars—actions that will have devastating consequences for Americans’ safety and wellbeing for decades to come,” Marrazzo stated.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and other identified HHS leaders violated her constitutional rights and illegally fired her based on her public warnings about serious risks posed by the Trump administration’s hostile approach to vaccines and the termination of vital scientific research.
Placed on leave and fired. According to Dr. Marrazzo, when she raised these concerns within NIH, the agency placed her on administrative leave and told her she would be transferred to what turned out to be a nonexistent role. That transfer never occurred. She filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) alleging whistleblower retaliation and alleges that 22 days later Secretary Kennedy terminated her employment.
The scientist and researcher contends that the Trump administration’s actions violate her due process rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Administrative Procedure Act, and her rights to freedom of speech under the First Amendment and the Whistleblower Protection Act. She also alleges that pursuing justice through the OSC or the MSPB is an “exercise in futility,” as neither is currently independent.
Wasteful and risky. “I spoke up because the decisions by HHS leadership have put the public’s health at risk and wasted billions of dollars—actions that will have devastating consequences for Americans’ safety and wellbeing for decades to come,” Marrazzo stated. “I was fired for calling this out, but I will not stay silent. This lawsuit is about protecting not just my right to expose abuse and fraud by our government, but those rights for all federal employees, so we can safeguard essential public health priorities and the integrity of scientific research.”
Marrazzo seeks reinstatement, back pay, other monetary and administrative relief, as well as declarations from the court that the defendants’ actions violated the Constitution, various other laws, and her statutory and constitutional rights.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland; the case is No. 1:25-cv-04144-JRR.
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