Trump USDA chief made employees feel they're 'going to hell' in emails: lawsuit

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is inappropriately injecting religion into the federal workplace, according to a new lawsuit, and pressuring employees to follow her faith.

According to ABC News, the National Federation of Federal Employees "filed the lawsuit in California, accusing Rollins of violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment," stating that "Secretary Rollins's practice and policy of subjecting agency employees to proselytizing messages conveys the expectation that USDA employees share in the Secretary's religious beliefs, even when doing so would betray an employee's own beliefs."

Rollins is accused of repeatedly invoking Jesus Christ in her emails to staff and creating an uncomfortable environment for employees who do not agree with her beliefs.

"The complaint listed a series of emails sent by Rollins to commemorate recent holidays, including crediting 'gratitude towards a loving God' in her Thanksgiving email, writing that 'God gave us the greatest gift possible' in her Christmas email, and describing the story of Jesus' resurrection as the 'greatest story ever told' in her Easter email," said the report. "Rollins only acknowledged Christian holidays, according to the complaint."

One employee said nobody dared ask to remove themselves from the email list for fear it would "create trouble," while another said he "feels that the Secretary is conveying to him that he is unwelcome and 'going to hell' because he does not share the Secretary's beliefs."

Rollins has frequently created controversy with her remarks about food inflation, suggesting that people who were pressured by higher egg prices should just raise backyard chickens, and insisting that her department ran "simulations" proving Americans can create a meal for just $3.