Defendants must show cause by end of day tomorrow as to why the court should not consider the re-termination letter “to be in blatant violation of the Preliminary Injunction Order in place and therefore in contempt of this Court.”
On Friday, Judge Melissa DuBose of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued another, very specific and strongly-worded order in the ongoing dispute between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and AFGE.
On March 13, 2026, DuBose issued the first preliminary injunction that ordered the VA to reinstate AFGE’s master CBA pending resolution of the lawsuit filed by the union. The court determined that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on both their First Amendment retaliation and APA arbitrary-and-capricious claims, and that the VA’s claims that terminating the CBA was being done in the interest of operational efficiency did not align with an executive order citing national security concerns.
AFGE seeks intervention. Then, early last week, AFGE announced it had filed a motion asking the judge to compel the VA’s compliance with her decision ordering the restoration of AFGE’s master collective bargaining agreement with the VA and all subsidiary agreements because of the VA’s continued actions ignoring the court’s order and the requirements of the CBA.
Re-termination letter. Subsequently, on March 26, 2026, the VA issued another Notice of Termination (the “re-termination letter”), filed as a Status Report with the court,...
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently provided important information about how it plans to handle the surge in data-driven False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam lawsuits. On April 30, 2026, DOJ announc...