July 12, 2026 - Alexandria, Va. – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted a preliminary injunction ordering the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to restore telework reasonable accommodations to two employees with disabilities while their litigation proceeds.

The court’s decision provides immediate relief to Kimberly Panian, an EOIR attorney-advisor in California who has a rare combination of disabilities that necessitates that she have immediate access to medical care in case of an emergency that is not available in the workplace, and Hoi Yee Baxter, an EOIR attorney-advisor in Texas who has a compromised immune system as a result of ongoing treatment for Stage IV lung cancer. Their lawsuit alleges that EOIR denied their telework accommodation requests in violation of Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act and, in so doing, is forcing them to choose between protecting their health and keeping their jobs.

Both plaintiffs successfully teleworked for years with strong performance evaluations before EOIR denied their accommodation requests based on flimsy and pretextual reasoning. The plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, Burakiewicz & DePriest, and Brown, Goldstein & Levy.

“We thank the court for this interim relief as we continue our fight. I hope this ruling will pave the way for federal employees with disabilities to speak up about their unlawful denial for telework as a reasonable accommodation,” said Hoi Yee (Cherry) Baxter.

“I am incredibly thankful and relieved. Today is a win for disability rights, accountability, and the rule of law,” said Kimberly Panian.

“This decision reaffirms that disability rights cannot be cast aside by arbitrary government decisions,” said Anashua Dutta, Senior Staff Attorney at Democracy Forward. “Our clients deserve the opportunity to continue serving the public without being forced to risk their health and their lives to do so. We remain committed to being alongside our clients to ensure that the Trump-Vance administration complies with the federal anti-discrimination law and upholds the rights Congress has guaranteed to employees with disabilities.”

“It has been heartbreaking to witness what Plaintiffs have gone through since the government ordered them to return to the office from telework. We are grateful that they can return to the jobs they love and no longer have to worry about severe health consequences from  returning to work in-person to avoid losing their health insurance and to pay their bills,” said Heidi Burakiewicz of Burakiewicz & Depriest, PLLC

“We are pleased that the court recognized the need to provide relief while this case moves forward. Our clients demonstrated that denying their telework accommodations would cause irreparable harm, despite years of successfully performing their jobs remotely. We look forward to continuing to present the evidence demonstrating that EOIR’s actions violated federal law,” said Eve Hill of Brown, Goldstein & Levy.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of Plaintiffs and a proposed class of EOIR employees with disabilities who requested and were denied telework accommodations since January 20, 2025.

The case is Panian et al. v. Blanche. The team at Democracy Forward in this case includes Anashua Dutta, Louis Katz, Catherine Carroll, Lauren Wetzler, and Elena Goldstein. The Burakiewicz & DePriest legal team includes Heidi Burakiewicz and Sophia Serrao. The Brown, Goldstein & Levy legal team includes Eve Hill and Anisha Queen.

Source: Democracy Forward