Judge orders Trump to reinstate probationary employees

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to bring back thousands of fired probationary employees, saying their ousters were illegal.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, a Clinton appointee who sits in California, said the Office of Personnel Management had no authority to direct other agencies to fire the employees.

“It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” the judge said in ruling from the bench.

The Justice Department quickly filed a notice appealing the case.

Probationary employees have been on the job for less than a year, or less than two years at some posts. Trump officials said they were easy targets because they hadn’t built years of experience critical to their agencies and, as probationary employees, lacked full civil service protection.

OPM issued a memo telling departments to review their lists of probationary employees and decide which to keep. Departments then carried out waves of firings.

The Trump administration argued that the firings were agency decisions, not at the specific direction of OPM. The termination notices cited employees’ performance.

Judge Alsup called that argument a “gimmick” to try to skirt federal law. He said the cuts looked more like a reduction in force, which carries certain worker protections.

He said the Justice Department’s handling of the case wouldn’t allow OPM Director Charles Ezell to testify while the department withdrew his declaration from evidence to keep him from the stand.

“I tend to doubt that you’re telling me the truth,” the judge told the government. He called the situation a “sham.”

His order covered employees in six departments: Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense and Treasury.

Government Executive said it figures some 24,000 workers will regain their jobs.

Other agencies could be added later.

Judge Alsup also ordered the Trump administration to deliver compliance reports and ordered the government to let the plaintiffs depose Noah Peters, an OPM official, within two weeks.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which led the legal challenge, hailed the ruling as a blow to a president “hellbent on crippling federal agencies.”

“We are grateful for these employees and the critical work they do, and AFGE will keep fighting until all federal employees who were unjustly and illegally fired are given their jobs back,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE’s national president.