The former director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is suing Trump administration officials over her September firing, which she alleges violated her rights and was illegal under federal whistleblower protections.
The lawsuit (PDF) from Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., names the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as the NIH and its director, Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., and Principal Deputy Director Matthew Memoli, M.D., as defendants. The case was filed in a Maryland district court on Dec. 16.
When reached by Fierce Biotech, agency spokesperson Sarah Marshall said, "NIH does not discuss ongoing litigation."
Marrazzo is claiming that her firing violated her due process rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Administrative Procedure Act, and her freedom of speech under the First Amendment and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
“This lawsuit is about protecting not just my right to expose abuse and fraud by our government, but those rights for all federal employees, so we can safeguard essential public health priorities and the integrity of scientific research,” Marrazzo said in a Dec. 16 release from her lawyers.
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