In Class Complaint on Behalf of Probationary Federal Employees, Democracy Forward and Alden Law Group filed a complaint on February 14, 2025, with OSC on behalf of civil servants across nine federal agencies who were fired solely because of their probationary status. The administration’s actions followed a directive from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to identify early-tenure employees who could be terminated without full civil service protections.

Since then, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has issued multiple decisions halting terminations and reinstating thousands of federal workers. These rulings mark major wins to protect America’s nonpartisan civil service from political interference and mass firings orchestrated by the Trump-Musk administration under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Civil servants play a critical role in ensuring government functions—safeguarding public health, protecting the environment, administering benefits, and more. The Trump administration’s mass firings not only violated merit-based employment principles but also disrupted lives, destabilized agencies, and threatened the foundational norms of a professional, nonpartisan federal workforce. These actions risk turning the civil service into a political loyalty test.

This case is about restoring fairness, protecting workers’ rights, and defending the core principle that federal employees should be judged on the quality of their work—not their perceived political loyalty.

Latest Developments:

• February 14, 2025 — Initial class complaint filed with OSC challenging the mass firing of probationary employees without regard to performance.
  
• February 24, 2025 — OSC recommended stopping the terminations, citing strong legal grounds to believe the dismissals violated civil service protections.
• February 25, 2025 — The MSPB stayed the terminations of six named complainants, setting an important precedent in halting unlawful mass firings.
  
• March 5, 2025 — The MSPB expanded its prior decision and ordered the reinstatement of more than 5,000 USDA employees who had been wrongfully terminated.
  
• March 7, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Labor reinstated all unlawfully terminated probationary employees following Democracy Forward’s legal victories.