I worked at the DOJ for 18 years. Now I run a support network for employees navigating retaliation and job loss.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Stacey Young, the founder of Justice Connection and a former DOJ civil rights lawyer. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I left the Department of Justice in January after working there for 18 years.

I spent 13 of those years in the Justice Department’s Civil Division, where I defended immigration laws and policies in court. Some of my cases went to the Supreme Court. I then moved to the Civil Rights Division, where for five years I worked in a section that enforces a law prohibiting employment discrimination based on immigration status and national origin.

While at the Justice Department, after Trump was elected the first time, I founded an employee membership organization called the DOJ Gender Equality Network. DOJ GEN had some major wins. We advocated for a bill, ultimately passed by Congress, that created three months of paid parental leave for all federal employees. At DOJ, we successfully advocated for a new sexual misconduct policy and a centralized unit that addressed sexual misconduct, among other improved practices and policies for all federal employees.

DOJ GEN was also a direct support organization. People would come to me all the time with questions and requests for help, like if they were being sexually harassed by somebody in their office and their supervisor wasn’t doing anything, or if they realized that they were being paid less money than a white male counterpart because he had come in from a higher-paying job. People would come to me personally with these issues all the time, and I would be able to help them. And that was just a really gratifying thing to be able to do.

Leaving the DOJ and starting Justice Connection

When Trump took office a second time, I saw the administration was intimidating employees who were involved in efforts to promote equity and equality in the workforce. I understood organizations like DOJ GEN were going to be shut down, and so support for DOJ employees was going to have to come from the outside.

I knew before the inauguration that I was going to leave, and that I would be a target. I felt it was safer for me and the organization’s thousands of members to get out. I shut down DOJ GEN on January 24 and resigned the same day.

Now I run Justice Connection. Hundreds of DOJ employees have come to us for direct support so far. We engage with employees across the department, both those who are still there and who have recently left. And people at DOJ now know they can come to us when they need help.

We’ve already connected dozens of DOJ employees to alumni, who are representing them pro bono and helping them when they’re facing adverse employment actions, like termination, ethics crises, or criminal or congressional investigations. DOJ is known as the largest law firm in the world, and we’re very much taking advantage of that.

We also speak out on behalf of DOJ employees, help with whistleblowing, and provide free media training to people who want it. And we have a mental health support network connecting DOJ employees to mental health clinicians who have agreed to treat them either for free or low bono.

‘Some people are working on résumés for the first time in decades’

We’re also already helping people find jobs. Right now, we’re building out an employment support network. We plan to bring somebody to work on that full time and help find job opportunities that are suitable for DOJ employees and connect them to those roles.

I’m finding that it’s helpful for current and recent employees to reach out to DOJ alumni who are in their fields to help access their networks and pick their brains for ideas. That’s part of what we’re doing, making those connections.

The job market is really tight, especially for certain types of DOJ employees. The department has reportedly lost more than 4,000 people. When so many people leave one giant employer at the same time, it’s always going to be hard for those people to find jobs.

It’s especially tough for certain categories of people, like special agents in the FBI, ATF, and DEA. There just really aren’t equivalent positions in state and local law enforcement, and it’s just not going to be as meaningful for a lot of people if they aren’t in public service.

A lot of law firms aren’t hiring many white collar litigators anymore because there isn’t a whole lot of white collar enforcement happening in the department. As for civil rights lawyers, hundreds were purged from the DOJ, and there are only so many organizations and firms that do this work.

And it’s also hard because a lot of people planned to be at DOJ for the rest of their careers. Making a transition to the private sector or outside the federal government is really hard. Some people are working on résumés for the first time in decades.

It’s been a devastating seven months. I’ve watched my friends and former coworkers endure cruel and senseless treatment by their own government. It’s been hard to watch.

But I’m also glad I’m able to do something that provides tangible support to public servants who desperately need it right now. And I’m glad this idea has really worked, and the organization has taken off, and we’re having a significant impact that’s growing every day.

The work I did with DOJ GEN was the most gratifying thing I had ever done in my career. So I’m glad to be able to continue it with Justice Connection. I didn’t expect to stop practicing law, so that’s an unexpected shift. But I’m not lamenting it. I think what I’m doing right now is exactly what I should be doing.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately return a request from Business Insider on Young’s departure from the agency.

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