The Trump administration’s central human resources office acted illegally when it directed the mass firings of probationary workers as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce, a judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said Friday in awarding judgment to a coalition of labor unions and nonprofits that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management “unlawfully exceeded its own powers and usurped and exercised powers reserved by Congress to each individual” federal agency to hire and fire its own workers.
He said the government “disagrees but does not persuade” in its defense that the office did not direct employment decisions, but merely offered guidance to other agencies.
“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,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a statement.
The Office of Personnel Management did not immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment.
More than 25,000 probationary workers were terminated soon after Trump took office in January, according to legal declarations from departments gathered as part of the lawsuit.
Alsup in March ordered the reinstatement of probationary workers, saying OPM had likely acted unlawfully in ordering the terminations of workers at other agencies. But the U.S. Supreme Court set that decision aside in April on a technical basis without ruling on the underlying case.
Alsup, a nominee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, was particularly troubled that workers were fired for poor performance, which the administration defines as not being mission critical at a time of cutbacks. Probationary workers are generally younger employees who are just starting their careers, but they can also include older employees who have moved into new positions.
In his Friday ruling, Alsup said too much time had passed to reinstate fired workers, but he is ordering most of the agencies named as defendants to update personnel files and send individual letters to workers stating they were not terminated for performance.
Exempt agencies include the State Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
“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. The agencies in question have also transformed in the intervening months by new executive priorities and sweeping reorganization. Many probationers would have no post to return to,” Alsup wrote.
