The National Science Foundation is denying or cancelling reasonable accommodations for its disabled and medically vulnerable employees – setting a dangerous precedent that could destabilize disability rights across the entire country.
“If the federal government decides that civil rights laws are optional, the private sector will undoubtedly follow suit,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “When the nation's largest employer starts treating disability rights like an administrative burden rather than the law of the land, every American worker with a medical need is in jeopardy.”
NSF leadership is attempting to justify the rollback by citing the agency’s upcoming relocation to a new headquarters – which is a few hundred yards from the previous headquarters that has been taken over by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. NSF management is insisting that employees must first experience the new office space without their established reasonable accommodations, arguing that the necessity of these medical adjustments in a new environment has not yet been “tested.”
“Management’s logic is a dangerous absurdity,” said representatives from AFGE Local 3403, which represents NSF employees. “It’s like telling a non-swimmer they can’t use a life jacket in the ocean because they haven’t yet drowned in salt water. You don’t test a safety net by removing it before the fall.”
The new NSF building is not ready for full occupancy, and most employees have been asked to work from alternative duty stations. NSF has already been heavily strained by a shrinking workforce. Stripping legal, hard-won protections under the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) puts many remaining specialized staff at risk of being forced out of their careers.
“NSF has already lost more than a third of its workforce,” the local said. “To watch brilliant, dedicated scientists and administrators get pushed out the door because agency leaders refuse to follow basic labor law isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a self-inflicted wound to American innovation, and welcomed news to strategic competitors like China.”
The loss of these specialized professionals carries severe consequences for the nation. NSF staff are highly trained experts responsible for evaluating complex research proposals, managing billions in federal awards responsibly to avoid fraud, waste and abuse, and guiding the scientific breakthroughs that keep the United States competitive on the global stage.
AFGE and Local 3403 are calling on Congress to intervene immediately, exercise oversight, and compel the Trump administration to uphold federal law and preserve essential reasonable accommodations.
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