Following an order from a federal judge, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management walked back it’s order to agencies to fire probationary employees.
Probationary employees include workers who have been hired in the past three years. Dozens of workers at the Food and Drug Administration were terminated because of the order from the OPM.
The office told agencies it is up to them on whether to fire workers, according the The Hill.
The OPM was acting on an order from Elon Musk, a South African naturalized citizen and billionaire who heads the new Department of Government Efficiency.
“Please note that, by this memorandum, OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions regarding probationary employees. Agencies have ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for, such personnel actions,” the OPM wrote in the Tuesday update.
The action by the OPM on March 4 came after U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled in favor of federal employee unions that sued because of the firings, which he deemed illegal.
“[The] Office of Personnel Management does not have any authority whatsoever, under any statute in the history of the universe, to hire and fire employees within another agency,” Alsup wrote.
“The agencies could thumb their nose at OPM if they wanted to.”
While the lawsuit was only brought on behalf of employees at six agencies, Alsup ordered OPM to rescind the memo, finding the termination of employees was likely unlawful. His order suggests that employees at the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture should be rehired, according to one of the unions.
“OPM’s revision of its Jan. 20 memo is a clear admission that it unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out mass terminations of probationary employees – which aligns with Judge Alsup’s recent decision in our lawsuit challenging these illegal firings,” the American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement Tuesday.
“Every agency should immediately rescind these unlawful terminations and reinstate everyone who was illegally fired.”
The Office of Personell Management’s director Charles Ezell said the office had not taken action described in the lawsuit.
“OPM did not direct agencies to terminate probationary employees, based either on performance or misconduct,” acting OPM Director Charles Ezell wrote in a sworn statement submitted in court.
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