A federal judge in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, has reversed his stance, allowing unions to sue over the Trump administration’s mass firings of recently hired government employees in court. This decision diverges from previous rulings by other judges, who stated that such matters should be handled by federal agencies.
Judge Alsup previously ordered six agencies to reinstate about 17,000 workers pending further litigation. The Trump administration has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to block this order.
Alsup’s latest ruling highlights concerns that federal labor boards lack expertise to address constitutional issues related to the firings of approximately 25,000 probationary employees.
The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions involved in the lawsuit have not commented. The U.S. Department of Justice also declined to respond immediately.
Alsup noted that appealing to the Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Labor Relations Authority may be futile due to recent political upheaval at these agencies.
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