In a decision that comes after years of legal challenges by labor unions and nonprofit groups, a US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it directed the firing of thousands of probationary federal employees in early 2017, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
According to the report, San Francisco-based US District Judge William Alsup ruled Friday that the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) “unlawfully exceeded its own powers and usurped and exercised powers reserved by Congress to each individual” agency responsible for managing its own personnel.
The judge rejected the government’s defense that the OPM was simply offering guidance rather than directing terminations.
“The government disagrees but does not persuade,” Alsup wrote in his decision, per AP.
According to court filings cited by the news agency, over 25,000 probationary workers were terminated in the months after President Donald Trump took office.
Unions Say Decision Exposes ‘Sham Record’
Labor leaders welcomed the ruling, which shines a spotlight on the controversial downsizing effort led by the Trump administration.
“Judge Alsup’s decision makes clear that thousands of probationary workers were wrongfully fired, exposes the sham record the government relied upon, and requires the government to tell the wrongly terminated employees that OPM’s reasoning for firing them was false,” AP quoted Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, as saying.
No Reinstatement, But Workers Will Be Notified
While Alsup previously ordered reinstatement of some workers in March, the US Supreme Court set that decision aside in April on a technicality, without weighing in on the merits, the report said.
In his Friday ruling, Alsup acknowledged that too much time has passed to bring workers back.
“The terminated probationary employees have moved on with their lives and found new jobs. Many would no longer be willing or able to return to their posts,” he wrote.
The judge ordered that most of the agencies involved must update personnel files and send letters to those affected, stating they were not fired for poor performance. Some agencies, including the State Department and NASA, are exempt from the order.
Probationary employees – often early-career workers or those in new positions – were let go based on the Trump administration‘s determination that they were not “mission critical“ during efforts to cut back the federal workforce.
