US federal Judge orders Trump to reinstate probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies
Lawyers for the government maintain the mass firings were lawful because individual agencies reviewed and determined whether employees on probation were fit for continued employment.
But Alsup has found that difficult to believe. He planned to hold an evidentiary hearing Thursday, but Ezell, the OPM acting director, did not appear to testify in court or even sit for a deposition. The judge encouraged the government to appeal.
There are an estimated 200,000 probationary workers across federal agencies. They include entry level employees but also workers who recently received a promotion.
About 15,000 are employed in California, providing services ranging from fire prevention to veterans’ care, according to the lawsuit filed by the coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations.
The plaintiffs said in their complaint that numerous agencies informed workers that the personnel office had ordered the terminations, with an order to use a template email informing workers their firing was for performance reasons.
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