HHS Workers Advance Agency-Wide Layoff Proposed Class Action (1)

US Department of Health and Human Services employees can move forward on allegations that the agency violated a federal privacy law when it fired thousands of workers based on inaccurate electronic employment records, a federal judge said.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia had subject matter jurisdiction over the case, Judge Beryl A. Howell said Thursday. She rejected the HHS’s claim that the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 required the employees to first bring their complaint before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Howell dismissed claims against individual agency officials, saying they duplicated the workers’ claims against ...