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A federal lawsuit filed Friday morning, claiming that the Trump administration is obstructing the Department of Education’s civil rights enforcement, is trying to stop the president and secretary Linda McMahon from carrying out mass shootings of civil rights investigators and lawyers.
The council of two parents, parental lawyers and supporters, and the National Disabled Rights Group have jointly filed a lawsuit. It argues that destroying the department’s Civil Rights Office will prevent agencies from dealing with public complaints about discrimination in schools. They would violate the equal protection clause of the fifth amendment to the US Constitution, they said.
The complaint came three days after the education department notified about 1,300 employees (including all seven of the 12 regional civil rights offices), a day after a group of 21 Democrat Attorney Generals sued McMahon and the President. The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration has no power to circumvent Congress.
The complaint filed Friday alleges that “OCR has curbed its responsibility for enforcing civil rights protections,” and that the administration has made a decision to “obstruct the civil rights function” of the education sector. The lawsuit alleges that it invalidates Congressional authority. Name McMahon from the Education Department and the OCR’s representative, who is Craig’s trainer.
“A series of press releases, policy statements and executive orders have revealed a light emptying against the civil rights of marginalized students,” the lawsuit states.
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The parents’ lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It asks the court to declare “decimation” of the OCR unlawful and seeks an injunction that forces the office to “decimate OCR complaints promptly and fairly.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the department says it still fulfills its legal obligations.
The lawsuit filed by the Attorney General has been filed in federal court in Massachusetts. It argues that the firing is so serious and extreme that it neutralizes the components of the department responsible for performing functions mandated by law. As an example, it cites the closure of the front post bases in seven regional OCRs.
Every year, OCR investigates thousands of allegations of discrimination in schools based on disability, race and gender, and is one of the largest civil rights units in the federal government. Finally, there were about 550 OCR employees. At least 243 union employees were fired Tuesday.
The administration plans to close OCR locations in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Offices will remain in Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle and Washington DC
The lawsuit filed by parents and advocacy groups reveals concerns among students and families whose complaints have been pending that they have not been investigated under President Donald Trump. There are also concerns that new complaints will not be investigated if they do not fall into one of the president’s priorities. It is to end anti-Semitism suppression, the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports, and to combat allegations of discrimination against white students.
After Trump was launched on January 20th, the administration implemented a month-long freeze on the agency’s civil rights activities. While OCR investigators were banned from addressing assigned discrimination cases, the Trump administration has launched a new “final DEI portal” that only means gathering complaints about diversity, equity and inclusion to schools. It says it is trying to reduce the size of the government, including the education department, which Trump called “a big fraud.”
Trump’s actions so far have led many to wonder, “whether there is a truly meaningful complaint investigation process that exists at this point?” Smith is a former deputy aide to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights.
“They put their thumbs on the scale of who the winners and losers are before they do the investigation. That’s very problematic from a law enforcement perspective,” Smith said.
The lawsuit is perhaps the most substantial legal effort to require the education sector to enforce civil rights since 1970, when the NAACP sued the agency for allowing it to continue quarantine. The case has resulted in repeated overhauls of OCR and 20 years of judicial oversight with the aim of ensuring that the department has investigated and enforced discrimination fairly.
Students and families turn to OCR after they feel that concerns are not being addressed by schools and universities. Both individuals designated as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are parents of students whose civil rights complaints were being investigated until Trump took office.
One of the plaintiffs, Alabama pro-Nicki S. Carter, has three students, advocate for students with disabilities in her community. Carter is black. According to the lawsuit, Carter filed a complaint with OCR in 2022, claiming discrimination based on a race in which the children’s school district, Demopolis City, was banned twice from the district’s property.
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When Propublica reached the district chief said he was unaware of the lawsuit or civil rights complaints and could not comment. He’s used to the district.
The district says it banned Carter after a conflict with white staff. However, Carter says that white parents who had similar conflict were not banned and made them believe the district punished her for her advocacy. She said it prevented her from attending parent-teacher meetings and other school events.
The other parent identified by Initial AW has filed a complaint with OCR, alleging that the child’s school was unable to properly deal with sexual assault and harassment by classmates.
According to the lawsuit, investigation into discrimination complaints among both families has been suspended under new OCR leadership.
