The National Treasury Employees Union sued the Internal Revenue Service on June 15, alleging the agency violated employees’ First Amendment rights by systematically removing pro-union materials from workspaces, a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. claims.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under Case No. 1:26-cv-02104, targets a May 29 directive from IRS Facilities Management and Security Services Acting Chief John Pekarik. The directive instructed employees to remove “any and all NTEU materials” from IRS facilities “by whatever steps are necessary,” short of vandalizing non-union property.
According to the complaint, NTEU materials—and NTEU materials only—have been confiscated from bulletin boards and employee cubicles across the country. At an IRS facility in Decatur, Georgia, on June 5, two facilities management employees walked from cubicle to cubicle instructing workers not to display union materials. When they reached the office of local NTEU Chapter President Lakisha Murphy, they told her to remove her NTEU flags or they would do it themselves. By day’s end, NTEU flags from three cubicles had been removed and disposed of in the men’s restroom, with only one recovered.
At an IRS facility in Horsham, Pennsylvania, on June 4, facilities staff removed NTEU flyers from the outside of a cubicle belonging to local NTEU Chapter President Thomas Parise. When Parise requested their return, an FMSS Section Chief confirmed they would not be returned, citing that “the directive is coming from FMSS HQ.” In Kansas City, Missouri, facilities staff crumpled up NTEU flyers at a union table in the cafeteria and threw them away.
NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald called the removals “textbook” viewpoint discrimination against union supporters. “NTEU will not stand for the administration’s effort to retaliate against us for our advocacy and to try to erase NTEU from the workplace,” she said in a statement. “NTEU has represented IRS employees for nearly a century. It will continue to fight for their right to speak up and support the union.”
The lawsuit alleges the directive constitutes both viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause and an infringement on the right to freedom of association. The union argues that other materials—family photos, sports paraphernalia, church materials, Girl Scout cookies advertisements, and patriotic decorations—remain permitted on employee bulletin boards and cubicles, but NTEU materials alone have been targeted for removal.
The directive stems from President Trump’s March 27, 2025 Executive Order 14,251, which stripped collective bargaining rights from roughly two-thirds of the federal workforce on national security grounds, affecting the IRS and other agencies. A White House fact sheet accompanying the order referred to “certain Federal unions” that were “declaring war on President Trump’s agenda,” language the union contends targets NTEU. The IRS terminated its collective bargaining agreement with NTEU on February 27, 2026, in response to the executive order.
NTEU argues that neither Trump’s executive orders nor the Office of Personnel Management’s implementing guidance authorize the removal of union materials from workplaces. The union contends that NTEU signs and posters have been displayed in IRS facilities for decades without disrupting agency operations, and that the broad prior restraint violates the exacting standard set by federal courts for restrictions on group speech affecting entire classes of employees. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the directive violates the First Amendment, an injunction blocking its implementation, and attorney fees.
Sources
- Government Executive — NTEU lawsuit details, May 29 directive, Decatur Georgia incident, Doreen Greenwald quote, and IRS’s termination of collective bargaining agreement.
- Tax Notes — Full text of NTEU’s complaint, First Amendment legal framework, specific incidents in Decatur GA, Horsham PA, and Kansas City MO, and legal arguments regarding viewpoint discrimination.
- National Treasury Employees Union — Confirmation of lawsuit filing and NTEU’s legal position on free speech violations.
