Filed Date: March 18, 2026
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding in progress
[This summary is temporary while we research the case.]
More than 170 current and former USAID foreign service officers and other employees, all over age 40, filed a lawsuit against multiple federal agencies on March 18, 2026, in the United States Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs alleged that defendants conducted a pretextual reduction in force at USAID in 2025, terminating older employees without individualized performance assessment while simultaneously promoting a public campaign emphasizing that young officials were replacing "older legacy employees". DOGE officials, many in their twenties and thirties, oversaw the terminations while promoting ageist messaging about injecting "young blood" into the federal workforce. The plaintiffs were placed on involuntary administrative leave beginning February 23, 2025, and subsequently terminated between July and September 2025. After terminating the employees under the guise that their positions were being eliminated, defendants allegedly began rehiring younger workers through the State Department for the same or similar functions. The complaint includes seven counts alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Older Worker Benefits Protection Act, the Administrative Leave Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief, damages, back pay, front pay, benefits, attorneys' fees, and other remedies.
This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Jinan Abufarha (3/21/2026)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72513309/parties/bradley-v-united-states-agency-for-international-development/
Contreras, Rudolph (District of Columbia)
Byrnes, Kevin Edward (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72513309/bradley-v-united-states-agency-for-international-development/
Last updated April 20, 2026, 3:11 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Public Benefits/Government Services
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: March 18, 2026
Case Ongoing: Yes
Case Details
Other Dockets:
District of District of Columbia 1:26-cv-00950
Available Documents:
Case Summary of BRADLEY v. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/47944/ (last updated 3/21/2026).