PRESS RELEASE: HUD Attorneys Sue Administration Over Effort to Cripple Housing Civil Rights Enforcement

Lawsuit claims that attorneys at HUD’s Office of Fair Housing have been unlawfully targeted for involuntary transfers because of their work enforcing the Fair Housing Act  

September 22, 2025 – Five attorneys who work at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enforcing the Fair Housing Act sued the agency today over forced reassignments out of their office.  Plaintiffs’ federal court complaint can be read here.  This follows a whistleblower report sent to Senator Elizabeth Warren.  The New York Times investigation can be read here. 

Plaintiffs work, or recently worked, in the Office of Fair Housing (OFH) within HUD’s Office of General Counsel, which is the legal office responsible for enforcing fair housing and civil rights laws, including the Fair Housing Act.  Plaintiffs allege that agency officials seek to undermine civil rights enforcement by targeting the people who do that work.  The lawsuit contends that this targeting of Plaintiffs violates the Fair Housing Act, which makes it “unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person . . . on account of his having aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of” their fair housing rights.”

The attorneys are represented by Jessica Samuels and Clayton Bailey of Civil Service Law Center LLP.  “We are proud to help these attorneys seek the justice that they regularly pursue for Americans across the country,” Samuels said.  “The Fair Housing Act not only prohibits discrimination in housing, but also protects those who work to advance fair housing rights, as our clients have been doing for years.”

The complaint alleges, among other things, that Plaintiffs were told they were being reassigned because “fair housing is not a priority” in the current Administration, and there is an “optics problem” with the size of the Office of Fair Housing.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court for an injunction ordering HUD to cancel Plaintiffs’ reassignments, allowing them to continue their work enforcing the Fair Housing Act.