First Judge Orders Rehiring of Thousands of Fired Federal Workers

Federal District Court Judge William Alsup ordered several federal agencies to immediately rehire many thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly mass-fired by Donald Trump’s regime.

In court it became obvious that the Office of Personnel Management ordered the firings. OPM tried to claim it had only provided guidance to agencies. Alsup ruled that OPM has no authority to fire workers in other agencies. He banned it from doing so, and from providing any more templates for firing letters such as the ones OPM used for mass firings, and from providing guidance to any federal agency about firing employees.

In detail, Alsup described the government’s firings as unlawful, a “sham” designed to bypass legally required procedures and through “a gimmick” deny the fired workers any ability to claim unemployment compensation. He also described in detail how the government sought to avoid revealing the truth in court. He was particularly annoyed that the acting head of OPM, Charles Ezell, wriggled out of testifying and withdrew his written statement rather than face questions under oath about it.

Alsup ordered the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs to promptly offer fired probationary workers their jobs back. He made it clear that they can be fired and a reduction in force can be done, but emphasized that required procedures must be followed.

Alsup’s ruling came in a lawsuit by labor unions representing federal employees and non-profit groups.

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