Fired Federal Workers Reinstated by Civil Service Appeals Board

Six probationary federal employees terminated under the Trump administration will return to their positions for now, after an independent commission said their firing broke the laws that shield career staff from political influence.

The Merit Systems Protection Board, the panel that mediates disputes between agencies and their workers, found reasonable grounds that the Trump administration violated the part of civil service law requiring federal agencies to keep employees based on adequacy of performance.

Member Raymond Limon on Tuesday granted a stay of the firings requested by the Office of Special Counsel. He ordered the federal agencies to reinstate the six employees for 45 days while OSC investigates their firings.

Limon’s order is nonprecedential, meaning the board and administrative judges aren’t required to follow it in future cases. However, it could provide a blueprint for challenging other firings as the Trump administration culls the federal workforce.

The government has fired more of the 30,000 employees in recent weeks. Most of them were probationary employees—workers new to their roles. Probationary workers typically don’t have the stronger job protections reserved for longer-serving employees.

Democracy Forward and Alden Law Group, who filed the initial complaint on behalf of the six employees, said it will dispute more of the firings with the MSPB and Office of Special Counsel, the team responsible for shielding agency whistleblowers from retaliation.

“We will use all legal tools to defend America’s civil service from an Administration seeking to harm them,” said Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman.

The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s HR division, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg Law.