"A union for employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is demanding the agency reinstate workers who were placed on leave for signing a letter critical of the Trump administration’s environmental and personnel policies.
“The agency’s decision to place these employees on administrative leave and to threaten further employment actions is a blatant act of retaliation,” Justin Chen, the union president, said in a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “These employees engaged in protected speech on a matter of significant public concern, and their actions are fully protected by federal law and our collective bargaining agreement.”
Chen added that the agency’s actions had no legal basis and that it should dismiss any disciplinary or investigative action it took against the staffers.
He contended that, in addition to being protected by the First Amendment, the employees’ letter was within their rights to petition Congress. The letter was copied to multiple congressional committees, Chen said, in addition to Zeldin."
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