Officials Fire EPA Employees for Signing Dissent Letter

After 270 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a letter of dissent expressing concern about scientific integrity, the EPA placed 144 of them on administrative leave pending an investigation. Two months after the letter, EPA fired 15 of the employees despite warnings from the Office of General Counsel that such personnel actions could be construed as retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights. Six of the terminated employees have subsequently filed appeals with the Merit Systems Protection Board alleging First Amendment retaliation. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) subsequently released a redacted copy of one of the termination letters, which discounted the constitutional and whistleblowing violations and asserted that the public protest letter was a fireable offense.