Ex-prosecutor fired over FACE Act case sues DOJ for unlawful termination
Sunita Doddamani argues that she was terminated as an assistant U.S. attorney because she prosecuted activists accused of blocking an entrance to an abortion clinic.
Sunita Doddamani, formerly a federal prosecutor in Michigan, has sued the Department of Justice for wrongful termination, alleging political retaliation. Doddamani, once an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan, was among several career prosecutors dismissed just before a 900-page DOJ report accused the Biden-era DOJ of improperly targeting anti-abortion activists.
On the day of her firing, Doddamani lost access to her DOJ communication channels and was removed from the building. Her termination, reportedly due to misconduct in a FACE Act case, was argued to be politically motivated and a breach of the Civil Service Reform Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and the First and Fifth Amendments.
The FACE Act prohibits blocking access to reproductive health clinics, with nonviolent, first-time offenses treated as misdemeanors. Doddamani's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names the Attorney General, Jerome Gorgon, and other DOJ officials. The DOJ maintains the firings were due to the employees' role in the now-disfavored cases.
Doddamani's lawyers point to the report's accusations and internal disclosures as examples of the department's improper handling of the case.
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