‘I hope it lights a fire under people’: The federal worker standing up to Donald Trump and his ‘illegal mandates’
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The ‘freedom fighter’ standing up to Donald Trump’s mandates
- Karen Ortiz, an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has publicly criticized the agency's shift in direction under the Trump administration.
- In an email to hundreds of colleagues, she called for resistance against what she deemed "illegal mandates" around handling of LGBTQ+ cases.
- The email was subsequently deleted, and the EEOC revoked her email access and issued a reprimand.
- Some colleagues have privately supported her stance, while comments online after the email went viral have called her a “freedom fighter” and a “hero”.
- Ortiz remains defiant, saying she is willing to face potential consequences for her actions.