Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers to likely be unlawful
CNN
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce.
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful, granting some temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions and organizations that has sued to stop the Trump administration’s massive trimming of the federal workforce. US District Judge William Alsup ordered the Office of Personnel Management to inform certain federal agencies that it had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees, including the Department of Defense. “OPM does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe,” to hire or fire any employees but its own, he said. Alsup handed down the order on a temporary restraining order sought by labor unions and nonprofits in a lawsuit filed by the coalition filed last week. The complaint filed by five labor unions and five nonprofit organizations is among multiple lawsuits pushing back on the administration’s efforts to vastly shrink the federal workforce, which President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and his administration is now aiming at career officials with civil service protection. The plaintiffs say OPM had no authority to terminate the jobs of probationary workers who generally have less than a year on the job. They also say the firings were predicated on a lie of poor performance by the workers.
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