Judges in two US states have ordered federal agencies to rehire probationary employees terminated as part of President Trump’s government downsizing.
In a legal case brought by unions and other parties, California District judge William Alsup called the job cuts a “sham to avoid statutory requirements”.
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The judge ruled that the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defence, Energy, Interior and Treasury must reinstate the employees effective immediately. As part of the ruling, made on Thursday 13 March, 2025, he said that he might extend the court order to include more federal agencies at a later date.
Judge Alsup said he believed that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had unlawfully told federal employers to fire workers on probation.
The US Justice Department claimed that OPM had only issued “guidance”, suggesting that the final decision lay with the agencies. However, the judge rejected that argument and ruled that OPM did tell all agencies to terminate the jobs of people on probation.
The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling.
Maryland ruling
On the same date, in the state of Maryland, a second judge ruled that fired probationary workers must be temporarily reinstated.
Senior judge James Bredar ordered 18 federal agencies to comply with his temporary restraining order, which will last for two weeks. Agencies covered by the order include the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Agency for International Development.
Judge Bredar’s ruling was based on the failure of the Trump administration to give workers six-days notice (called ‘reductions in force’ or RIFS) as well as non compliance with other procedures required before mass job cuts. The administration argued the requirements did not apply in this case because federal law allows the government to terminate probationary employees under certain circumstances without notice.
But the judge rejected this argument saying the employees were terminated because of poor performance.
In his judge’s opinion, Bredar said: “Here, the terminated probationary employees were plainly not terminated for cause. The sheer number of employees that were terminated in a matter of days belies any argument that these terminations were due to the employees’ individual unsatisfactory performance or conduct.”
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