She got an ultimatum. Her non-DEIA colleagues allegedly got a better deal

A federal DEIA officer fired under President Trump's executive order lost all four legal challenges to her termination in court.

On March 11, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed all four claims brought by Neonu Jewell, the former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Jewell joined DFC in December 2022. In addition to leading the agency's diversity and inclusion efforts, she took on the role of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Director after the previous officeholder resigned. Her position description covered DFC's EEO program, its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) program, and government-wide equity policy.

That work became the basis for her removal.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing." The next day, the Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to place employees of DEIA offices on administrative leave while each agency took steps to close and end all DEIA initiatives, offices, and programs.

On January 22, 2025, according to court filings, Jewell and her deputy director of DEIA were placed on paid leave. The rest of her team – whose titles referenced only EEO duties – were not.

On January 28, 2025, DFC's Chief Human Capital Officer allegedly gave Jewell two options: resign...

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