Judge orders 6 agencies to offer reinstatement to fired probationary employees, finds OPM’s terminations “unlawful”

Washington — A federal judge in California ordered six federal agencies to offer to reinstate probationary employees who were fired last month, finding that their terminations by the Office of Personnel Management were unlawful.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup handed down his order in a challenge brought by a group of unions against the Trump administration from the bench. He said that neither OPM nor its Acting Director Charles Ezell had the authority to direct the terminations across agencies.

The order extends relief to fired workers at the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury.

“It is 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,” Alsup said at the end of a hearing on the unions’ request for a preliminary injunction. “That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.