Judge tells DOJ to reinstate telework for two attorneys as their lawsuit proceeds

Two federal employees with disabilities were granted a preliminary injunction on Friday in their lawsuit challenging the Justice Department’s cancellation of reasonable accommodations to telework.

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered DOJ to restore full-time telework accommodations for the two plaintiffs as litigation in their case continues. The decision came during a July 10 hearing for the case.

Plaintiffs Kimberly Panian and Hoi Yee “Cherry” Baxter, two attorney-advisors in DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), filed a lawsuit in June alleging that the department’s 2025 return-to-office orders violated the Rehabilitation Act.

DOJ mandated in-office work for employees in early 2025, following a day-one executive order from President Donald Trump that called on all executive branch agencies to cancel telework and remote work agreements, “consistent with applicable law.”

Panian, who has Type 1 diabetes and severe migraines with aura, has been teleworking due to her disabilities since 2020. Baxter was granted telework accommodations due to her Stage IV lung cancer and treatment, which has made her severely immunocompromised, according to court filings.

After being required to return to the office full-time, Baxter alleged that working in person jeopardizes her health and her life. Both plaintiffs claim they have exhausted hundreds of hours of sick and annual leave to avoid risking their health, court documents show.

The plaintiffs allege that after the return-to-office mandate, EOIR systematically denied employees’ requests to continue teleworking as a reasonable accommodation due to their disabilities. The plaintiffs claim they had been successfully teleworking for years with no performance issues.

The complaint argues that EOIR’s blanket in-office requirements violate Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits employment discrimination against federal employees with disabilities.

DOJ did not respond to Federal News Network’s questions about the lawsuit and the department’s current telework accommodations policy for employees with disabilities.

Plaintiffs said they were relieved and thankful following the preliminary injunction.

“I hope this ruling will pave the way for federal employees with disabilities to speak up about their unlawful denial for telework as a reasonable accommodation,” Baxter said.

Attorneys for the DOJ workers are seeking class certification for the case. They argue that the plaintiffs’ experience is not unique, and hundreds of other employees in EOIR have also been denied reasonable accommodation requests to telework since early 2025.

“These employees’ experiences only scratch the surface of those negatively impacted by EOIR’s ‘no telework accommodations policy and practice,’” the lawsuit states. “Many class members have been forced to use or exhaust their sick and annual leave since EOIR denied their telework accommodations, some have been marked Absent Without Leave (AWOL) for which they could be disciplined and others have been forced to put their health and lives at risk by going into the office.”

Democracy Forward, Burakiewicz & DePriest, and Brown, Goldstein & Levy are representing the plaintiffs in their case.

“This decision reaffirms that disability rights cannot be cast aside by arbitrary government decisions,” Anashua Dutta, senior staff attorney at Democracy Forward, said Friday. “Our clients deserve the opportunity to continue serving the public without being forced to risk their health and their lives to do so.”

Federal employees at other agencies, including the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, have made similar allegations of systematic denials or delays in granting reasonable accommodation requests to telework, following the 2025 return-to-office orders.

The National Treasury Employees Union is suing Treasury and HHS, claiming thousands of employees have been denied timely access to workplace accommodations for disabilities and medical conditions.

The Office of Personnel Management told agencies in February that they should not take a “blanket approach” to rescinding or denying telework accommodations. But OPM guidance earlier this year still urged agencies to consider other options, like alternative work schedules or specialized equipment, before granting telework to accommodate disabilities and other medical needs.

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11

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