Twenty attorneys general filed a motion with a U.S. District Court in Maryland Monday seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Department of Energy and other federal agencies blocking mass firing of probationary employees without due process.
It is part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and other AGs, most if not all Democrats, seeking to block the Donald Trump administration’s mass terminations of probationary workers.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar issued a temporary restraining order against the mass layoffs earlier this month.
“Staying the unlawful RIFs [reductions in force] in their entirety now—rather than just in the plaintiff states—will ensure that the plaintiff states are not forced to endure still more harms,” the state attorneys said in the Monday motion. “Granting only partial relief from the unlawful RIFs at this juncture would mean staggered reinstatements, which threatens to sow further chaos and confusion and impose additional burdens on the plaintiff states.” The government opposes the injunction
Meanwhile affidavits filed by personnel officials at DOE, EPA and other federal agencies said reinstating hundreds of probationary employees let go since Jan. 20 is causing its own level of confusion.
“Specifically, all employees offered reinstatement into full duty status are being onboarded again, including going through any applicable training, filling out human resources paperwork, obtaining new security badges, reenrolling in benefits programs and payroll, reinstituting applicable security clearance actions” and other steps, said Reesha Trznadel in a March 17 affidavit. Trznadel is a lawyer and acting human capital officer at DOE.
Nevertheless, as of Tuesday March 17, DOE had un-fired 319 of the 555 probationary employees previously targeted for termination and they are in an “administrative leave” status pending a potential definitive legal ruling by the courts.
Attorneys for the administration said probationary hires have no more than two years federal experience and therefore have fewer job rights than more senior colleagues.
