Courts Order Trump Administration to Reinstate Terminated Workers

Federal court rulings in California and Maryland have ordered multiple government agencies to reinstate probationary employees who they say were unlawfully terminated under directives from the Office of Personnel Management.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of California found that the firings violated legal protections, while U.S. District Judge James Bredar of Maryland ruled that the Trump administration had failed to follow proper procedures for large-scale layoffs, including providing a 60-day advance notice.  As a result, 14 federal departments, including Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, along with several agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, have been ordered to offer reinstatement to affected employees.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the following statement regarding the status of probationary employees: “The Department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid.”

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