Lawsuit accuses agriculture secretary of 'religious coercion' in staff emails
Source: ABC News
May 13, 2026, 3:24 PM
A new federal lawsuit accuses Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins of proselytizing federal employees by frequently invoking Jesus Christ in work emails.
The National Federation of Federal Employees and a group of seven USDA employees filed the lawsuit in California, accusing Rollins of violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
"Secretary Rollins's practice and policy of subjecting agency employees to proselytizing messages conveys the expectation that USDA employees share in the Secretary's religious beliefs, even when doing so would betray an employee's own beliefs," the lawsuit said. "It is exactly the sort of government-sponsored religious coercion, religious sermonizing, and denominational preference that the Establishment Clause prohibits."
The complaint listed a series of emails sent by Rollins to commemorate recent holidays, including crediting "gratitude towards a loving God" in her Thanksgiving email, writing that "God gave us the greatest gift possible" in her Christmas email, and describing the story of Jesus' resurrection as the "greatest story ever told" in her Easter email. Rollins only acknowledged Christian holidays, according to the complaint.
Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/lawsuit-accuses-secretary-agriculture-proselytizing-employees-emails/story?id=132926896
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://www.au.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-NFFE-v-USDA.pdf