Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is facing a federal lawsuit accusing her of illegally pressuring U.S. Department of Agriculture employees to accept her Christian beliefs through a series of religiously themed staff emails that prominently invoke Jesus Christ.
The National Federation of Federal Employees and seven USDA workers filed the suit this week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Rollins' messages amount to unconstitutional "religious coercion" in a federal workplace.
They argue that her emails violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act by promoting a specific religion to a "captive audience" of subordinates, according to ABC News.
Request to Block Religious Communications
The union, which represents about 19,000 USDA employees, is asking the court to block Rollins and other USDA officials from sending similar religious communications in the future.
The lawsuit cites a pattern of agencywide emails in which Rollins explicitly credits "God" and Jesus Christ, culminating in an Easter message that plaintiffs describe as a "sermonizing" communication.
In that Easter email, sent to nearly 100,000 employees across some 4,500 USDA offices, she wrote "Happy Easter — He is Risen indeed!" and described Easter as a day to celebrate "the foundation of our faith."
The message also spoke of sin being destroyed, Jesus being raised from the dead, and God granting "each of us victory and new life," language the complaint says goes far beyond a simple holiday greeting.
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Earlier holiday emails are also detailed in the complaint, including a Thanksgiving message thanking a "loving God" and a Christmas note saying "God gave us the greatest gift possible."
The lawsuit says Rollins' Easter message called Jesus' resurrection "the greatest story ever told" and referred to it as "the foundation of our faith" and "the abiding hope of all mankind."
According to the filing, Rollins has not sent comparable messages recognizing non-Christian holidays, which plaintiffs say underscores an official preference for Christianity, Politico reported.
Employees who joined the suit say the emails make them feel coerced, unwelcome and like "outsiders" within their own agency if they do not share Rollins' beliefs.
They contend that, because the messages come from the cabinet secretary who ultimately oversees their careers, there is an implied expectation that staff either share or quietly accept her theology.
Some employees also lodged complaints with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which sent Rollins a letter demanding she stop using official communications to "promote your personal religious beliefs."
The USDA has not publicly detailed any policy changes in response to the lawsuit, but has said in one statement that it will "keep the plaintiffs in our prayers," as per GovExec.
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