From Judge Dabney Friedrich (D.D.C.) Wednesday in Jewell v. Jagadesan, which generally seems correct to me:
In December 2022, Jewell joined [the U.S. Development Finance Corporation] as its Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO). After DFC's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Officer resigned, Jewell took on the EEO Director position in addition to CDIO. Her "position description" stated that she was the "principal advisor" on DFC's EEO program; its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) program; and its Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion program. She was also responsible for "government-wide policy to advance equity across the federal government."
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order entitled "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing." The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum directing agency heads to place employees of DEIA offices on administrative leave while each "agency takes steps to close and end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs." On January 22, 2025, Jewell was placed on paid administrative leave, along with her deputy director of DEIA. Jewell's other team members, whose position titles referenced only EEO responsibilities, were not placed on leave.
On January 28, 2025, DFC's Chief Human Capital Officer gave Jewell a choice between resigning immediately or being terminated on February 22, 2025. Jewell was eventually terminated "without payment of the reduction in force severance pay contained in her contract." Jewell later learned that "other non-DEIA Administratively Determined DFC employees" were presented with a deferred resignation option that she was not offered.
Jewell sued, arguing, among other things, that the firing violated her First Amendment rights; but the court disagreed:
