On February 28, 2025, a Court entered an order explaining the mass terminations of federal employees. The chaos is from the scale (more than 2,000 in Montana alone), and the lack of information:
As many as 200,000 probationary federal employees are at risk of termination. Those already terminated rank somewhere in the tens of thousands. OPM and the federal agencies involved have not disclosed the number or identity of those terminated (even to their unions).
The Court held that the OPM’s January 20, 2025 memo, the February 14, 2025 email issuing mass terminations across multiple agencies at the direction of OPM, and all other efforts by the OPM to direct terminations of employees across several agencies are unlawful, invalid, and must be stopped and rescinded. A hearing has been set for March 13, 2025.
Employees who were summarily, and illegally, terminated are the people who clean the bathrooms at the parks, nurses who provides services at Indian Health Service and Veterans Affairs, people who upload data about whether there will be a snowstorm or a hurricane. These are the people at the heart of making our communities safe, and our day to day lives function.
Employees have options, and you can help. This is not legal advice, but a way but to provide some information so people know they have options.
If you know someone who was terminated, please forward this to them. Please let people know they are not alone. If your circumstances allow, show up and offer help. Help unions gather information and build databases. Help workers file an appeal. Help anyone, anywhere, stand up to the bullying and intimidation.
WAYS TO ACT:
Insurance and unemployment
File an SF-2809 (on the OPM website) to continue federal health insurance for up to 18 months. They must pay full premiums (employee and agency share) and there is an administrative fee. If married to another federal employee they can be added to a spouse’s federal health plan.
Probationary workers may qualify for unemployment insurance. Michal Shinnar, an employment lawyer for Joseph Greenwald & Laake, spelled out some options on a post on LinkedIN.
See the Labor Department’s fact sheet about unemployment compensation.
Appeal rights
Some of the workforce that was terminated was not in a probationary period, or their time was miscalculated in the rush to get the terminations done. Box 31 on their SF50/52 will show their Service Comp. Date. They should reach out to HR to see if they are actually probationary.
1. Grievance Procedure through a Local:
Bargaining unit employees should check about joining a grievance. Workers with this option will not have to pay private attorney fees. If someone qualifies to join a grievance, they should respond to their Union quickly.
Information about whether someone is a bargaining unit employee can be found on their latest SF50, Box 37. If the number is anything other than 7777 or 8888, they were likely a bargaining unit employee. Some resources include:the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); and the National Federation of Federal Employees/IAM (NFFE).
2. MSPB
Non-bargaining unit employees, usually management, can’t participate in the grievance process. Some workers will have an independent right of action to file a case with the Merit Systems Protection Board. An employee has 30 days to file an appeal with MSPB, which can be done on-line with a form. If someone chooses to appeal to the MSPC, they may want to hire private counsel. Two options to search for lawyers are your state’s bar association (Montana Bar) or here. The law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP and the State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF) represented the plaintiffs in the case above where the Court found the termination likely to be illegal and issued a restraining order.
3. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
If someone was singled out based on a protected class (disability, race, gender, etc.), they can file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. They must make contact with an EEO Counselor within 45 days of the date of the adverse employment action.
4. Complaint to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC)
Some employees may have the option of filing a complaint with the OSC. The OSC asked the MSPB to stay the terminations of six federal employees. MSPB granted that request. A court decision on Saturday, March 1, 2025 will keep the Special Counsel in the job. Filing an OSC complaint is a possible avenue if there are no other options and can be filed on OSC website.
This is not legal advice, but it is important for people to understand they have options. Some people may need to hire a lawyer, some may be able to file on their own, and some people will be represented by their union. Whatever your situation, please know that there are lots of resources available.
Tell someone’s story, help people tell their own
There are a number of folks gathering stories. Help people document what is happening or offer to pass along information. For example Navajo Nation has a website gathering stories, and NAAE (National Association of Agriculture Employees) has an official call for information.
Find advocacy groups that are involved and offer help, for example:
The Main Street Alliance;
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks;
Common Defense Civic Engagement;
Many of us want our federal government employees back at work, doing the things we need to have done to make our society function.
Feel free to forward this message to your friends and colleagues who may need information.
All together.
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