On Sept. 29, the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that will allow the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to move forward with its reduction in force (RIF) of employees who worked in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR is the office within USDOE that is charged with enforcing many federal civil rights laws in educational institutions, including Title IX, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, among others. A lower court had previously issued an injunction blocking USDOE from moving forward with the RIF.
In March 2025, the leadership of USDOE announced its intention to significantly decrease the Department’s workforce as part of the administration’s stated ongoing objective of abolishing the Department itself. This workforce reduction involved laying off roughly half of OCR’s employees and the shuttering of several OCR regional offices.
Multiple lawsuits were filed across the country seeking to block the RIF and the closing of regional offices, including the one that led to this ruling. The suit was filed by two former public school students who had filed civil rights complaints with OCR and a victims’ rights advocacy organization that advocated for the rights of individuals experiencing sex-based harassment. A federal district court ruled in favor of these plaintiffs, finding they were likely to succeed on their claims that the RIF "leaves OCR with the capacity to address only a small fraction of the complaints that it receives, making it impossible for OCR to comply with its statutory and regulatory obligations." The court issued a preliminary injunction blocking USDOE from moving forward with the RIF as it related to OCR, and the federal government appealed.
The First Circuit agreed with the government’s arguments and issued a stay of the lower court’s injunction. The court pointed to a stay issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in another case, in which parties challenged the RIFs on a Department-wide basis. Though the present case was targeted at OCR alone, the First Circuit found that the issues involved in its case are sufficiently similar to those present in the other case, meaning that that order should control the court’s decision in this matter. It should be noted that this does not reflect a final decision in the case, which remains pending on appeal. However, it does have the practical effect of allowing the RIF to move forward for the time being.
As always, OSBA members are welcome to contact the legal divisions with general questions about legal developments by utilizing the legal hotline at 855-OSBA-LAW.