Labor groups sue Trump administration over mass firings of probationary employees
Source: Reuters
February 20, 2025 11:41 AM EST Updated 4 hours ago
Feb 20 (Reuters) - Several labor groups sued the Trump administration for allegedly firing tens of thousands of probationary employees illegally, as part of its drive to overhaul the federal government.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday night in San Francisco federal court, the groups said the Office of Personnel Management, which manages the federal civilian workforce, lacked authority to direct federal agencies on February 13 to fire the employees en masse, ostensibly for performance reasons. The labor groups said Congress controls and authorizes federal employment and related spending by U.S. administrative agencies, and the Office of Personnel Management has no authority to fire federal employees other than those within its own agency.
"OPM, the federal agency charged with implementing this nation's employment laws, in one fell swoop has perpetrated one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country, telling tens of thousands of workers that they are being fired for performance reasons, when they most certainly were not," the complaint said.
The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/labor-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-mass-firings-probationary-employees-2025-02-20/
Link to AFGE PRESS RELEASE - Public Service Unions and State Democracy Defenders Fund Challenge Unlawful, Mass Federal Firings
Link to COMPLAINT (PDF) - here