Judge Orders Agencies to Reinstate Fired probationary workers

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate probationary workers who were let go in recent mass firings from the Department of Defense, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. U.S. District Judge William Alsup ordered the departments to offer reinstatement to any and all probationary employees terminated on or about February 13th, referring to the date when Office of Personnel Management, OPM, held a call with department and agency heads and directed them to fire probationary employees. The OPM's directive to fire all probationary employees was not legal, Alsup ruled. Judge Alsup added that there is nothing wrong with reductions in force if it's done correctly under the law. Alsup last month temporarily blocked the Human Resources Department for federal agencies from ordering agencies to fire probationary employees, but declined at the time to require that fired workers get their jobs back. The White House is expected to appeal the decision. Thousands of federal workers could be reinstated if the ruling prevails in the higher courts.