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Shaun Southworth leading a federal employment training session with members of the Southworth PC team

IRS Union Flag Lawsuit and Federal Speech Rights

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A new lawsuit by the National Treasury Employees Union against the IRS raises a question many federal employees have felt in quieter ways: what speech is still protected when it ap...

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Probationary Firings and Federal Appeal Rights

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For probationary federal employees, the past year has carried an unmistakable message: early-career service can feel precarious even when the government says it wants to recruit ne...

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Park Service Exhibit Removal Ruling

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Federal employees often know when an assignment feels legally or ethically wrong before a court ever says so. That is what many National Park Service employees may have experienced...

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Telework Contracts Can Beat RTO Memos

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Federal employees facing return-to-office directives should understand a central point from the recent USPTO telework arbitration: a presidential memorandum may set policy goals, b...

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Strong Federal Employee Defense Is Built Before the Hearing

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When a federal employee receives a proposed removal, the case can feel deeply personal and immediately overwhelming. The agency file may include a proposed removal, decision letter...

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Public Trust in Federal Employees Is Rising

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After a year of uncertainty, criticism, reorganizations, and shifting workplace rules, federal employees received something rare: encouraging data. According to recent polling desc...

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NIH Whistleblowers and Retaliation Rights

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One year after hundreds of NIH scientists signed the Bethesda Declaration, their follow-up warning is stark: what they described as “chaos” in 2025 has become, in their words, “coo...

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Federal Retirement Backlog: Digital Filing Matters

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Federal employees nearing retirement received unusually encouraging news from OPM: retirement claims are being processed at a pace that, at least for now, is reducing a historicall...

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Federal RTO Monitoring and Employee Rights

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Federal employees should pay close attention when an agency describes a monitoring tool as an office-space solution while the contract language points to “continuous compliance mon...

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RIF Efficiency Evidence and Federal Employee Rights

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A reduction in force is supposed to serve the efficiency of the service. That phrase matters. It is not just a bureaucratic label or a line in an agency announcement. When an agenc...

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Federal Scientists, Orders, and Whistleblower Rights

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Federal employees, especially scientists, often work in environments where technical judgment carries public consequences. The recent CNN report involving EPA scientists raises a d...

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Federal Employee Podcast Launch on Juneteenth

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Federal employees are navigating a workplace moment that cannot always be explained in three minutes. Discipline, probationary removals, shifting civil service protections, agency ...

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The Mindful Federal Employee is part of a broader public-education ecosystem from Shaun Southworth, Lydia Taylor, and Southworth PC. Use the resource that fits the question and the moment.

Podcast

Civil Rights for Civil Servants

Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.

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About the people behind the work

Shaun Southworth & Lydia Taylor

Meet the federal employment attorneys behind this public-education work and the podcast Civil Rights for Civil Servants.

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