Attorneys for Federal Employees — Nationwide

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Listen to the latest episode of Civil Rights for Civil Servants They kept a file on you. It's time you kept one on them. For the last year and a half, federal employees have lived through hiring freeze... player.captivate.fm

Today at a Glance

• FEHB Coverage Class Action: Five federal employees filed a class action Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that OPM's elimination of gender-affirming care coverage from FEHB and PSHB plans is sex discrimination under Title VII. Attorneys estimate nearly 40,000 employees, retirees, and dependents could be affected.
• OPM Breach Protection Expiring: Free identity-protection coverage for the 22.1 million people caught in the 2015 OPM data breaches ends September 30. A new bill from Sen. Mark Warner and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton would make that coverage lifetime — but it is only a proposal, and the clock is running.
• Your Personnel Records, Online: OPM launched a Document Request Service that lets former federal employees pull their complete electronic Official Personnel Folder — including every SF-50 — through Login.gov, replacing a paper process that could take weeks or months.

Top Stories:

1. Federal Employees File a Title VII Class Action Over OPM's Ban on Gender-Affirming Care Coverage

Source: Government Executive, August 3, 2026

TL;DR: A group of five federal employees filed a class action lawsuit against OPM on Monday, August 3, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit challenges OPM's directive to Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) carriers to stop covering gender-affirming care in most cases starting with the 2026 plan year, a change that implemented a January 2025 executive order. The pseudonymous plaintiffs — four transgender or non-binary federal employees and one employee whose daughter is transgender — say they face medical bills in the tens of thousands of dollars for hormonal and surgical treatments their doctors have prescribed. The complaint alleges the exclusion is sex discrimination on its face under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, calling the cutoff “akin to denying continuing insulin treatment for someone with diabetes,” and notes the same treatments remain covered for other patients when not connected to gender transition. The plaintiffs are represented by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and former MSPB member Cathy Harris, and their attorneys estimate nearly 40,000 federal employees, retirees, and dependents could be affected. OPM did not respond to Government Executive's request for comment.

For federal employees, this means:

• If your family has had a claim denied under the 2026 exclusion, keep everything — the explanation of benefits, the denial letter, and the dates. Any relief in this case will turn on documented denials.
• The FEHB program has its own disputed-claims track that runs separately from any lawsuit: ask the carrier to reconsider a denial, and if the carrier stands by it, you can request OPM review under 5 C.F.R. § 890.105.
• A class action does not pause your individual deadlines. An employee who wants to challenge the exclusion as employment discrimination through the EEO process must still contact an EEO counselor within 45 days under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a)(1).

Legal Insight. Title VII requires that personnel actions affecting federal employees be free from discrimination based on sex, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16, and in Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020), the Supreme Court held that discrimination against a person for being transgender is discrimination because of sex. The class action asks whether that rule reaches the health benefits the government provides as part of federal employment — and the complaint argues the carrier letters exclude care by reference to sex-linked treatment on their face. Because benefits denials, the § 890.105 administrative track, and the 45-day EEO clock each run on their own schedules, affected employees should consult a federal employment attorney about which paths to preserve now rather than waiting on the class case.

2. Identity Protection From the 2015 OPM Breach Ends September 30 — a New Bill Would Make It Lifetime

Source: Government Executive, August 3, 2026

TL;DR: The federal government's free identity-protection program for victims of the 2015 OPM data breaches is scheduled to end September 30, and people enrolled in OPM's MyIDCare program have been receiving notices that their complimentary coverage ends ten years after their individual enrollment date. The two breaches compromised information belonging to roughly 22.1 million current, former, and prospective federal employees, contractors, and family members — one intrusion exposed personnel records for about 4.2 million people, and a second compromised 21.5 million background-investigation records, with about 3.6 million people affected by both, according to the Government Accountability Office. Congress responded with an appropriations law requiring OPM to provide at least ten years of complimentary identity protection and no less than $5 million in identity-theft insurance, and that ten-year floor is what now runs out. This week, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) introduced the RECOVER PII Act, which would replace the ten-year limit with coverage lasting the rest of each affected person's life while keeping the insurance requirement. The bill would also let agencies choose to reimburse employees and contractors for privacy tools, such as services that remove personal information from the internet. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are cosponsors; similar bills in past years have not become law.

For federal employees, this means:

• If you were notified in 2015 or afterward that your data was compromised, check whether you are enrolled in MyIDCare and watch your mail and email for an expiration notice — coverage ends ten years from your enrollment date, and OPM plans to conclude the services at the end of the fiscal year.
• Before coverage lapses, save copies of any credit-monitoring alerts or reports you may need later, and set up the free protections that do not expire: weekly credit reports at annualcreditreport.com and security freezes with all three credit bureaus.
• The RECOVER PII Act is a proposal, not a law. Unless Congress acts before September 30, the coverage ends on schedule — so plan as if it will.

Legal Insight. The Privacy Act requires every agency to establish appropriate safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of the records it keeps on individuals, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(10), and it provides civil remedies for certain violations, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g). The identity-protection services ending September 30 come from a separate appropriations mandate — the statute set a floor of ten years of coverage and $5 million in identity-theft insurance, and the government has now reached that floor. Whether the coverage continues past September 30 is in Congress's hands, not OPM's.

3. Former Feds Can Now Get Their Personnel Records Online — and Those SF-50s Matter More Than Ever

Source: FEDweek, August 4, 2026

TL;DR: OPM has launched the electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF) Document Request Service, an online portal that lets eligible former federal employees request and receive their complete personnel folder electronically. Users verify their identity once through Login.gov, submit a request, and receive a secure email with a time-limited download link to a password-protected file containing their full eOPF. Until now, a separated employee often had to contact their former agency or file a request with the National Personnel Records Center, with waits that could stretch to weeks or months. The service is available to separated employees whose records are maintained in eOPF, and to current employees whose agencies do not provide government equipment to access their own records; current employees with eOPF access should keep using that system. OPM Director Scott Kupor said the launch “replaces an outdated, paper-based process with a secure, efficient solution that gives former federal employees faster access to the records they need while improving customer service and reducing administrative burden.” Given the scale of separations over the past two years, faster access to these records has practical consequences for a large population of former employees.

For federal employees, this means:

• If you separated — by RIF (Reduction in Force), resignation, removal, or retirement — you can now pull your complete folder, including every SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), without going through your former agency.
• Your SF-50s are the proof behind almost every claim you may need to make later: MSPB appeal rights, RIF retention standing, creditable service for your annuity, and veterans' preference all trace back to what those forms say. Download the folder and read it.
• Check your records for errors before you need them. Verify your service dates, tenure group, veterans' preference code, and position information — mistakes are far easier to fix while the paper trail is fresh.

Legal Insight. The Official Personnel Folder is part of OPM's government-wide records system, 5 C.F.R. § 293.303, and the Privacy Act gives you a right of access to your own records, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(1), and a right to request amendment of records that are inaccurate or incomplete, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(2). Those records carry legal weight: an MSPB appeal generally must be filed within 30 days of the effective date of the action, 5 C.F.R. § 1201.22(b), and the SF-50 is often the document that proves what action was taken and when. If you separated recently and believe your SF-50 mischaracterizes what happened — for example, a coerced resignation coded as voluntary — consult a federal employment attorney promptly, because how the action is documented can affect what appeal rights you have.

Mindful Moment of the Day

The Leave Request Pause 

Requesting leave can feel surprisingly stressful when staffing is tight, deadlines are looming, or the office culture makes rest feel like a problem. You may second-guess whether you “deserve” the time or worry how your request will be received. Before submitting the leave request or checking its status again, pause and place a hand on your desk or your lap. Take a breath and remind yourself, “Rest is part of staying able to serve.” Then submit what you need to submit and let the process move. You do not have to earn exhaustion before allowing yourself a break.

In Case You Missed It

A few quick hits from our recent posts:

OPM Removed the Bias Check on Federal Hiring Assessments: What Changed for Applicants

GAO: FEMA Cut 4,500 Employees With No Workforce Plan — What That Means If Your Agency Is Downsizing

Worried About Retaliation or Being Targeted for Speaking Up?

If you’ve reported misconduct, safety concerns, discrimination, or waste/fraud/abuse—and now you’re seeing sudden schedule changes, bad performance reviews, or threats of discipline—you may be in whistleblower or retaliation territory.