The head of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 252 said at least 55 employees were impacted so far.
U.S. Department of Education workers were put on leave in what appears to be a response to President Donald Trump’s order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government, a labor union president said on Monday.
Sheria Smith, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, said that a common factor among those put on leave is that most appear to have taken a voluntary diversity training course offered by the department.
The majority of employees placed on leave do not work in DEI initiatives and span all branches of the agency, she said, from an office that sends billions of dollars to K–12 schools to an investigative office that enforces civil rights laws.
Hundreds of employees have taken the training, but it was unclear if all of them were placed on leave, Smith added.
She said many people were under the impression the training was strongly encouraged or required.
“It seems unfair to encourage or require people to take a training and then four or five years later place them on administrative leave,” Smith said.
The union also confirmed statements Smith made that Education Department officials were put on leave to multiple media outlets through news releases issued via its website.
The Epoch Times contacted the department and AFGE Local 252 for comment but received no word back as of Tuesday morning.
Speaking to NBC News in an interview, Smith said that at least 55 employees in the agency received the letter and that those officials will, for the time being, receive government benefits and full pay.
“It looks like they’re entrapping people because they encouraged people to take these trainings … and are now maybe using these trainings as a basis to put them on administrative leave,” she told the outlet.
Elsewhere in the interview, Smith claimed the move was designed to “shock and awe” and that emails are being sent that “make no sense and are super confusing to intimidate us or to make us run scared so we quit.”
Last month, Trump issued a series of decisions removing DEI from the federal government in what the president says are discriminatory and potentially dangerous actions. A memo released by the Office of Personnel Management ordered DEI staff to be placed on paid leave and all publicly facing DEI websites to be taken down.
Trump has “promised to terminate DEI in the federal government, protect equal opportunity, and force schools to end discriminatory admissions policies, and he delivered,” a fact sheet released by the White House in January said.
“Every man and woman should have the opportunity to go as far as their hard work, individual initiative, and competence can take them. In America, excellence, grit, and determination is our strength.”
A number of large U.S. corporations have moved to end their DEI programs—or at least some of them—in recent months, including McDonald’s, Walmart, Amazon, Meta Platforms, John Deere, and more. But the board members of some major companies, including Apple and Costco, have signaled that they will keep some DEI policies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.