The federal agency charged with protecting workers’ civil rights has terminated a New York administrative judge who opposed White House directives, including President Donald Trump’s executive order decreeing male and female as two “immutable” sexes.
In February, Administrative Judge Karen Ortiz, who worked in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s New York office, called Trump’s order “unethical” and criticized Acting Chair Andrea Lucas — Trump’s pick to lead the agency — for complying with it by pausing work on legal cases involving discrimination claims from transgender workers. In an email copied to more than 1,000 colleagues, Ortiz pressed Lucas to resign.
Ortiz was fired on Tuesday after being placed on administrative leave last month. The EEOC declined Wednesday to comment on the termination, saying it does not comment on personnel matters.
In response to the president’s order declaring two unchangeable sexes, the EEOC moved to drop at least seven of its pending legal cases on behalf of transgender workers who filed discrimination complaints. The agency, which enforces U.S. workplace anti-discrimination laws, also is classifying all new gender identity-related cases as its lowest priority.
The actions signaled a major departure from the EEOC’s prior interpretation of civil rights law.
In her mass February email criticizing the agency’s efforts to comply with Trump’s order, Ortiz told Lucas, “You are not fit to be our chair much less hold a license to practice law.” The letter was leaked on Reddit, where it gained more than 10,000 “upvotes.” Many users cheered its author.
The EEOC subsequently revoked her email privileges for about a week and issued her a written reprimand for “discourteous conduct.”
Ortiz said she continued to “raise the alarm” about the agency’s treatment of transgender and gender-nonconforming complainants, and convey her opposition to the agency’s actions. She sent an April 24 email to Lucas and several other internal email groups with the subject line, “If You’re Seeking Power, Here’s Power” and a link to Tears for Fears’ 1985 hit “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”
She contested her proposed termination earlier this month, arguing in a document submitted by a union representative that she was adhering to her oath of office by calling out behavior she believes is illegal.
Ortiz “views the Agency’s actions regarding LGBTQIA+ complainants to have made the EEOC a hostile environment for LGBTQIA+ workers,” and believes that leadership has “abandoned the EEOC’s core mission,” the document says.
The judge was hired to work at the EEOC during the first Trump administration, and while she disagreed with some policies then, “she did not take any action because there was no ostensible illegality which compelled her to do so,” the document stated. “What is happening under the current administration is unprecedented.”
The letter requested the withdrawal of Ortiz’s proposed termination, the removal of all disciplinary documents from her personnel file, and that Ortiz be allowed “to continue doing her job.”
The six-page termination notice came anyway. In it, Chief Administrative Judge Regina Stephens called Ortiz’ actions “distasteful and unprofessional,” and concluded that Ortiz’s “work performance is affected” by her disagreements with the current executive orders and direction of EEOC leadership.
The notice also alleged that media circulation of Ortiz’s emails had “affected the reputation and credibility of the Agency.” It cited an Associated Press article that quoted Ortiz saying she stood by her email statements as evidence that her behavior would not change with “rehabilitation.”
In a Wednesday phone interview with The Associated Press, Ortiz said the news of her termination is “very sad,” although not surprising. “I think the agency has now become something that, I don’t know if I’d even really want to work there anymore. They’ve lost their way,” she said.
Lucas defended her decision to drop lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers during her confirmation hearing before a Senate committee last week. She acknowledged that transgender workers are protected under civil rights laws but said her agency is not independent and must comply with presidential orders.
Ortiz said she traveled from New York to Washington “on my own dime, on my own time” to attend the hearing. “I needed to be there,” she said, adding that she left thank-you notes for Senators who “put Andrea Lucas’ feet to the fire.”
Ortiz said she isn’t sure what comes next for her, only that it will involve fighting for civil rights. And in the short-term, picking up more volunteer dog walking shifts. “I will keep fighting for the LGBTQ community in whatever way I can,” she told AP.
She added: “It takes courage to take a stand, and be willing to be fired, and lose a six-figure job, and health insurance, and the prestige of the title of ‘judge,’ but I think it’ll also serve an example to future lawyers and young lawyers out there that a job title isn’t everything, and it’s more important to stay true to your values.”
