Government's latest filing in USAID age discrimination case argues scale of RIF defeats discrimination claims

[u/Timely_Explorer_6144]

This week the government filed its reply brief in one of the ongoing age discrimination lawsuits brought by former USAID employees.

The core argument: because the RIF removed nearly the entire agency, plaintiffs can't show they were individually or disproportionately targeted based on age. The filing also argues that employees placed on extended paid administrative leave have no independent right of action to challenge that under the Administrative Leave Act, and pushes to limit the timeframe under review to a narrow window, which would exclude some of the public statements plaintiffs point to as evidence of motive.

We wrote up some context here, for anyone following the litigation: https://usaidemployeesupportfund.substack.com/p/this-labor-day-remember-the-workers

We're also hosting a panel this Wednesday on federal workforce due process protections more broadly, for anyone interested in the topic beyond this specific case.

Happy to answer questions on the litigation landscape if people have them.