Plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Friday claim the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights cannot fulfill its mandated duties after nearly half the department’s staff was laid off this week, as President Donald Trump moves to shut down the agency entirely.
The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national disability rights group, and two parents jointly filed the federal lawsuit in the District of Columbia.
They allege that Education Secretary Linda McMahon and acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor are in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment.
“OCR has abdicated its responsibility to enforce civil rights protections, leaving students who should be able to trust and rely on their government to protect and defend their rights to instead endure discriminatory and unsafe learning environments without recourse,” the lawsuit reads.
“Through a series of press releases, policy statements, and executive orders, the administration has made clear its contempt for the civil rights of marginalized students,” it continues.
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief “to restore the investigation and processing capacity of OCR and to process complaints from the public promptly and equitably in accordance with OCR’s statutory and regulatory obligations.”
MASS LAYOFFS ORDERED AT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The lawsuit comes after the Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would fire half of the department’s roughly 4,200 employees at the department. Democratic state attorneys general across the country filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Education Department in response to those layoffs.
“It is very clear that the separation of powers does not allow Donald Trump to unilaterally eliminate, essentially, an entire agency that Congress created,” Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes told the Washington Examiner in an interview.