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2h ago

Judge Bars Education Department From Putting Partisan Blame in Employees’ Out-of-Office Emails

The court said compelled partisan speech against union members warranted immediate judicial relief given shutdown-stalled administrative channels.

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Education Department officials modified furloughed employees' out-of-office emails to blame the shutdown on "Democrat senators."

Overview

  • U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled on Nov. 7 that the department violated employees’ First Amendment rights by altering auto-replies to fault Democratic senators for blocking H.R. 5371 and causing the shutdown.
  • He ordered the partisan text removed from unionized employees’ accounts and said the remedy could be extended to all accounts if selective removal proves technically infeasible.
  • The ruling permanently forbids inserting partisan statements in out-of-office messages for furloughed or laid-off employees.
  • The government’s bid to channel the dispute into CSRA and FSLMRS administrative processes failed, as the court found those avenues effectively closed during the shutdown.
  • AFGE sued after standard messages issued at the shutdown’s start were changed without consent—first in employees’ voices, then in third person after a cease-and-desist—while retaining the partisan blame.