A federal judge has ruled that a former State Department officer who developed “Havana Syndrome” can move forward with parts of her disability discrimination lawsuit against the agency and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a memorandum opinion issued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Rudolph Contreras denied the government’s motion to dismiss plaintiff Carey Hogg’s failure-to-accommodate claim under the Rehabilitation Act. However, the court dismissed her claims alleging retaliation and disparate treatment.
Hogg, a 10-year Foreign Affairs Officer and previously the longest-serving employee in her office, alleged that she began suffering from an “Anomalous Health Incident” in August 2016 while working in Washington, D.C.
The condition, frequently referred to as Havana Syndrome, caused symptoms including “headaches, sleeplessness, lightheadedness, nosebleeds, and memory loss.”
According to court filings, the State Department established accommodations in 2020 and 2021 that allowed Hogg to telework full-time while she underwent specialized medical care at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Hogg received multiple promotions and exemplary performance reviews during this remote period.
The dispute arose in March 2023 when agency supervisors initiated a reevaluation of her work arrangements. The State Department later told Hogg that her remote setup was ending and that she needed to return to in-person work in Washington, citing shifting post-pandemic operational needs and the requirement to handle classified systems. Management offered her alternatives, including non-remote telework options in Washington or a one-year detail assignment to another bureau where remote work was permitted.
Hogg declined the reassignment, arguing that the transfer would change her job duties entirely and “set her up for failure.” She maintained that she had performed her specific job remotely for years without issue and could access classified drop locations in Arizona if necessary. After her medical leave concluded in early 2024, the department placed her on absent-without-leave (AWOL) status and eventually terminated her employment.
State Department attorneys sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Hogg failed to exhaust her administrative remedies through agency channels before suing and that the government fulfilled its legal duties by offering alternative accommodations.
Judge Contreras found that Hogg had exhausted several core claims that the agency addressed on the merits during earlier administrative proceedings. On the central accommodation claim, the court held that reassignment is an option of “last resort” under federal employment law.
“When an employer selects among several possible reasonable accommodations, the preferred option is always an accommodation that keeps the employee in his or her existing job if that can reasonably be accomplished,” Contreras wrote, citing federal precedent. The judge noted that because Hogg plausibly alleged she could perform her existing job remotely from Arizona, the government could not simply force a reassignment to resolve the accommodation request at this stage of the litigation.
The court dismissed Hogg’s disparate treatment and retaliation claims, finding no direct evidence of discriminatory animus toward her disability and noting that the agency began reevaluating her accommodation before she filed her formal Equal Employment Opportunity complaint. The court also struck Hogg’s request for punitive damages, which are barred against federal agencies, but allowed her claim for emotional-distress damages to proceed.
Contreras gave Hogg 30 days to file an amended complaint to address deficiencies in the dismissed claims, though the court noted it lacks jurisdiction over any separate wrongful-termination claim that was not first filed through the administrative process.
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