Class Action Suit Against DOJ Grows, Names Gonzales and Goodling as DefendantsFormer Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and embattled former White House liaison Monica Goodling are among those newly named as defendants in a private class-action lawsuit against the DOJ.
The suit, Gerlich et al. v. Department of Justice, was orginally filed in response to the Inspector General’s report on politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program. The report found that a number of DOJ officials, namely Esther Slater McDonald and Michael Elston, had broken the law in basing hiring decisions based on political affiliations.
The amended lawsuit expands the defendant list from only the Justice Department to specific individuals. Besides Gonzales and Goodling, Elston and McDonald are also named as new defendants in the case.
The suit also added five new plaintiffs.