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Alex Wong/Getty Images North America
Tania Nemer is one of dozens of immigration judges fired by the Trump administration this year.
But a new lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., explains what happened to Nemer — and why — that has the potential to upset the federal workforce and overturn fundamental civil rights laws.
Nemer alleges that despite top performance reviews, she was dismissed from her job because of her gender, her status as a Lebanese dual citizen, and the fact that she once ran for municipal office in Ohio as a Democrat. She says all of those reasons are a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the First Amendment.
Nemer’s attorney said the government has responded by arguing that the president’s power to oversee the executive branch under Article II of the U.S. Constitution essentially overrides the original civil rights law.
“This is a case in which the President of the United States asserts his constitutional right to discriminate against federal employees,” wrote his lawyer, Nathaniel Zelinsky of the Washington Litigation Group. “If the Government succeeds in changing the law, it will destroy the professional, non-partisan civil service as we know it.”
The administration abruptly fired Nemer in early February, summoned him from the bench and escorted him out of a federal building in Cleveland. The lawsuit says both her supervisor and the chief immigration judge there told her they did not know why she was being fired in the middle of her probation period.
Federal employees on probationary status have fewer rights to protest their dismissal than other civil servants, but they are still subject to constitutional protections except retaliation for their political speech; and by civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, and national origin.
A month after being fired, Nemer filed a formal discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office. That office rejected her claims in September, saying in its decision that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act conflicts with the president’s power to fire federal employees within the executive branch.
The new lawsuit says its implications extend far beyond a single immigration judge.
“According to the agency’s final decision, the President can now fire female federal employees like Ms. Nemer—because of their gender—and the law will have nothing to say about it,” according to the new lawsuit. “According to the final agency decision, the President can now fire federal employees born to dual-citizenship immigrant parents like Ms. Nemer—because of their national origin-And they will have no recourse. And under the same logic, the President can fire federal employees like Ms. Nemer-Due to his political activities and affiliations-And the courts will be powerless to take action.”
Nemer is demanding reinstatement, back pay and an order quashing her dismissal.
He said he never received official notice regarding the reasons for his dismissal.
But his lawsuit pointed out that in the administrative process, a senior Justice Department immigration official had mentioned driving offenses in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as two local tax matters that Nemer had disclosed as part of the background check to become an immigration judge – his lawsuit was offered as a “pretext.”
The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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