A divided federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that the U.S. administration could not proceed with firing 19 intelligence officers who had been assigned to positions related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives.

Background

The 19 career employees had all been temporarily assigned to roles related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They were among 58 CIA and ODNI officers who were placed on paid administrative leave because they had been assigned to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and remain on leave today.

The CIA Director and former Director of National Intelligence fired them to implement an executive order aimed at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs throughout the federal government. However, the court ruled that the agencies must adhere to their own binding regulations, which require allowing employees a chance to be reassigned instead of being fired and allowing them to pursue internal appeals.

U.S. Circuit Judge Nicole Berner, writing for the majority, said that the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment requires federal government agencies to adhere to their own binding regulations. The court upheld an injunction that a lower-court judge issued last year, requiring the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to provide the officers an opportunity to seek reassignment to new positions and appeal their terminations internally.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.