A federal worker from Maine is leading a class-action lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI “witch-hunt.”
The 17-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday before the Merit System Protection Board, alleges that the Trump administration has illegally targeted federal workers for termination over their involvement in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and training. Such firings violate federal workers’ First Amendment rights and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the lawsuit.
Mahri Stánniak, who is from Maine, is leading the lawsuit. They will be joined by Paige Brown and C. Scott from the U.S. Department of Labor and Ronisca Chambers of the Federal Aviation Administration in filing the lawsuit on behalf of federal workers fired during the DEI purge.
“The thousands of federal employees I have worked with in my sixteen and a half years in the federal government are incredibly passionate, skilled, and hard-working people who have dedicated their lives to making our nation safe, healthy, and prosperous,” Stáinnak said in a Wednesday statement. “By illegally targeting employees across government, the Trump administration is actually hurting all the people who live and work in this country by denying them the important services we provide.”
Stánniak joined the federal government in 2008, working for the Environmental Protection Agency until 2021, when they moved to the Office of Personnel Management to become deputy director of its Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. In that position, Stánniak worked on policies affecting LGBTQ+ and ensuring safe workplaces across the federal government, the lawsuit says.
Then, in December 2024, Stánniak left that division to serve as director of the management office’s Talent Innovation Group, which isn’t affiliated with the DEI office, according to the lawsuit.
After his inauguration, Trump signed executive orders directing agencies across the federal government to terminate DEI programs, offices and positions. In those orders, Trump called DEI programs “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral” and characterized them as “illegal … discrimination programs,” which he tied to the agenda of the Biden administration.
On Jan. 23, Stánniak was fired. In notifying them of their firing, the Trump administration incorrectly identified their position as “Diversity Program Manager” despite never having held such a position and having moved out of the DEI office the month before, according to the lawsuit.
“By removing Stainnak for working in such an alleged position previously — but no longer — the government has shown that its reliance on ‘new priority’ reasons is pretextual and undeserving of any credence,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration has unlawfully targeted federal workers for their perceived political affiliations in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including those who no longer performed DEI work or had only been involved in DEI training or employee resource groups.
Further, the lawsuit contends that the DEI “witch-hunt” disproportionately singled out federal workers who aren’t men or white in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“[T]his administration was not attempting to reset priorities but to punish those it perceived supported its political opponents,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit seeks reinstatement for fired workers and payment for lost wages and damages.