A former EPA adviser who says she was fired for criticizing the Trump administration is suing over her dismissal, claiming the agency violated her First Amendment rights.
Michigan-based water engineer Elin Warn Betanzo was serving a three-year term on the National Drinking Water Advisory Council last summer when she signed a “declaration of dissent” against the Trump administration’s deregulatory policies and funding cuts.
Within days of the petition’s circulation, agency leaders began looking for EPA employees who had signed the petition, according to emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Betanzo was informed via email that the agency was “investigating [her] potential signature on a petition” and ordered to cease all work for EPA.
The agency dismissed her in January, two years before her term on the council was set to expire. EPA did not release any information about the findings of their investigation, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
