Fired GSA 18F Tech Shop Workers Appeal to MSPB

About 80 federal workers thrown out of the General Services Administration 18F tech shop 28 February 2025 by Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” filed a class action appeal at the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The appeal asserts they were “unlawfully targeted” by Elon Musk and DOGE, which is a subset of a White House IT team rather than a government department. Federal reduction-in-force requirements were not followed in the shutdown of 18F and firing of all its employees.

The appeal states:

GSA did not provide any reason for terminating all 18F staff,” the appeal states. “The RIF notices to all staff simply say their positions are being abolished. The abolition of 18F serves no purpose other than to terminate dedicated federal employees.

18F was involved in creating Direct File, a free-of-charge online platform taxpayers can use to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. It charged government agencies $250 an hour for creating such inventions, so its closure has actually diminished the GSA’s budget.

The people who worked in 18F believe their unit was shut down in “retaliation” for their political opinions; promoting diversity, equity and inclusion; and “whistleblowing about DOGE’s improper access to systems and personnel and influence over GSA management.”

The former 18F employees are not the only ones to have filed class action appeals with MSPB. Former workers from the Office of Personnel Management appealed last week. Former workers from the Department of Homeland Security appealed earlier this week and were granted class certification.

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