Federal Workers Sue to Halt Government-Wide HR Email Tool (1)

Two federal workers filed a lawsuit to stop the federal government’s HR office from emailing all civilian federal staff at once, saying it violates privacy rules.

The Office of Personnel Management is testing a system to send emails to roughly 2.3 million federal employees from a single email address, according to the agency’s website. The new feature would allow senior Trump administration officials to communicate directly with staff across the government, rather than relying on managers to distribute information.

The workers argue that the OPM must first review how this new system collects and stores personal information about government employees, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Most of my clients come from a security background and I’m very attuned to cyber vulnerabilities,” said Kel B. McClanahan, counsel for the plaintiffs. “This one screams out, ‘hack me.’”

McClanahan is executive director of National Security Counselors, a public interest law firm.

OPM began testing the tool shortly after President Donald Trump took office and directed his team to shrink the federal workforce. Billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk is leading that effort to cut government spending.

After Musk took over Twitter, now X, he fired thousands of employees in a mass email. He required them to pledge to stay with the company and work long hours, or accept a buyout.

The plaintiffs didn’t file the lawsuit because they anticipate Musk will use the system to fire federal workers by email, McClanahan said.

Musk also banned remote work at X. Trump is also trying to force most federal workers to report to the office full time.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg Law.

The case is Doe v. Office of Personnel Management, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00234, complaint filed 1/27/25.