Appeals court sides with intelligence officers fired for working on DEI

A federal appeals court in a 2-1 decision Thursday upheld a lower court ruling blocking the Trump administration from firing 19 career intelligence officers who had been assigned to roles dealing with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).

The ruling from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found the Trump administration erred in firing the officers without any chance to appeal the decision or seek reassignment to a new role.

“The Agencies have never suggested that any of the Intelligence Officers engaged in workplace misconduct or that the terminations were motivated by performance concerns. Rather, the Director of the CIA stated affirmatively that the decisions to terminate the Intelligence Officers were taken to ‘effectuate the directives in’ DEIA Executive Order” signed by President Trump, the majority wrote in its opinion.

The suit, filed in........

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