WASHINGTON — A Stars and Stripes lawsuit filed Thursday asks a federal judge to stop the Pentagon from firing the military newspaper’s publisher, top editor and a Middle East reporter. The three plaintiffs say officials retaliated after they defended the newspaper’s independence and published a report about deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, reporter Lara Korte and publisher Max Lederer Jr. filed the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Their 45-page complaint names the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and two senior Pentagon public affairs officials.

The Pentagon sent proposed separation notices to all three employees Aug. 21. The notices accused them of insubordination and violating administrative regulations. The plaintiffs deny wrongdoing and say their terminations could take effect immediately without court intervention.

Stars and Stripes lawsuit seeks emergency order

The employees are asking the court for a temporary restraining order, followed by preliminary and permanent injunctions. They also seek reinstatement and back pay if the Pentagon fires them before the case concludes.

The Pentagon had not filed a public response to the allegations when this article was prepared. A spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by the Associated Press.

The complaint alleges First Amendment retaliation and violations of the Administrative Procedure Act. It also challenges recent Pentagon rules that increased oversight of Stars and Stripes. No court has determined whether the Pentagon acted unlawfully.

Lincoln report preceded firing order

The timing of the separation effort is central to the case.

Slavin and Korte appeared in a July 5 CBS News segment about Pentagon plans for Stars and Stripes. Korte said she worked for the newspaper rather than the Pentagon, an administration or a policymaker. Slavin said being ordered to replace an accurate story with Pentagon-written material would cross a personal red line.

Both employees say they appeared in their personal capacities with supervisory approval. The Pentagon did not immediately move to discipline either person after the segment aired.

Stars and Stripes then published a major report Aug. 11 about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The report described food and water shortages, disrupted mail, long workdays and growing concerns about sailors’ mental health.

USA Herald previously examined the conditions aboard the Lincoln and the Pentagon’s response to families raising concerns. The carrier’s approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines had spent more than 250 days deployed after the military redirected the ship to Middle East combat operations.

According to the lawsuit, Pentagon official Andrew Brey ordered Lederer to deliver separation notices to Slavin and Korte on Aug. 12. That was one day after the Lincoln report and more than five weeks after the CBS interview.

The complaint argues that the timing connects the firing effort to the Lincoln coverage. The Pentagon’s notices, however, formally relied on statements Slavin and Korte made during the CBS segment.

Pentagon calls comments insubordination

The notices treated the journalists’ statements as unauthorized official communications rather than personal opinions. Slavin’s notice reportedly cited his hypothetical refusal to publish inaccurate Pentagon material.

Korte’s notice accused her of publicly rejecting her employment relationship with the department and its command authority. She maintains that she merely explained the editorial separation between Stars and Stripes and Pentagon leadership.

Lederer initially refused to deliver the notices. He asked Brey to explain their legal basis and whether the employees had violated any actual order. The complaint says Brey did not answer those questions and instead repeated the instruction.

Lederer then announced that he would retire Sept. 30. He said his understanding of the newspaper’s mission differed fundamentally from the Pentagon’s direction. The department subsequently issued him a separation notice as well.

The Pentagon’s position could rest on its authority to regulate official communications and enforce personnel rules. The plaintiffs counter that no classified information was disclosed and no lawful order was disobeyed.

Pentagon’s own policy protects critical reporting

The dispute is complicated by the Pentagon’s own written policy.

On Aug. 21, the same day officials issued the separation notices, the department released a new Stars and Stripes instruction. It says the newspaper must remain independent of the military chain of command and free from censorship or propaganda.

The instruction limits content that could create a direct and immediate threat to military readiness or safety. However, it specifically says the restriction should not prevent critical analysis of policy or reporting about command climate problems.

The policy also describes Stars and Stripes products as unofficial. It says they do not represent the views of the federal government, the Pentagon or military commanders.

Earlier protections went further. For more than 30 years, federal regulations prohibited the calculated withholding of unfavorable news and required a free flow of information without news management.

The Pentagon removed those regulations in January. Officials called them outdated and unnecessary because they addressed internal agency procedures. The lawsuit argues that the department improperly eliminated substantive protections without allowing public notice and comment.

First Amendment protections are not automatic

Government employees do not receive unlimited First Amendment protection for everything they say at work. Courts generally examine whether an employee spoke as a private citizen about a matter of public concern or as part of official duties.

That distinction could become decisive. The Pentagon treated the CBS statements as official and unauthorized. Slavin and Korte say they expressed personal views during interviews their supervisors approved.

Their employment status adds another legal complication. Stars and Stripes operates as a nonappropriated fund instrumentality. The plaintiffs say that classification excludes them from the normal Civil Service Reform Act process and leaves them without another adequate remedy.

The court must also determine whether the Pentagon followed its own procedures. The complaint says the separation notices offered only five business days to respond, despite personnel rules that generally require a longer notice period.

Case tests the newspaper’s independence

Stars and Stripes receives Pentagon support, but it exists to provide independent news to service members and their families. That mission becomes most important when its reporting conflicts with the military’s preferred account.

The Lincoln story gave families a platform to describe shortages, exhaustion and declining morale during an extended combat deployment. The lawsuit now asks whether the Pentagon punished journalists after that reporting became public.

An emergency ruling could come quickly because the plaintiffs say their terminations are imminent. The case could then expand into a larger fight over the rules governing Stars and Stripes.

The Pentagon maintains administrative authority over the newspaper. The question before the court is whether officials crossed the line from management into unconstitutional retaliation and command influence.