By Aman Azhar Stephan Schwartz
The US Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 employees on administrative leave Thursday, an agency spokesperson confirmed, after they signed a 鈥淪tand Up for Science鈥 petition using their official titles and EPA positions.
The affected employees received an email, shared with Inside Climate News, informing them that they are on leave through July 17, pending an investigation into whether they used work time or resources when signing the petition.
The email emphasizes that 鈥渢his is not a disciplinary action.鈥
One employee, who asked not to be named, said they signed the petition 鈥渙n a Sunday on my own device.鈥
鈥淚鈥檇 be shocked if anyone used work resources,鈥 the employee went on. 鈥淲e鈥檝e taken ethics training and are aware of the law.鈥
While the employees are on leave, they are prohibited from using government equipment, including cell phones, logging into government-issued computers, contacting any EPA employees for access to information, and performing any official EPA duties.
An EPA spokesperson wrote in an email that the agency 鈥渉as a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration鈥檚 agenda as voted [鈥