Performance-Based Federal Worker Layoffs a ‘Sham’ Judge Rules

The Office of Personnel Management that directed the termination of thousands of probationary workers at six federal agencies is prohibited from directing the termination of more employees, a federal judge ruled Friday, and agencies must clarify that the firings weren’t based on performance.

The template termination letters from OPM stating employees were being fired for performance issues “was a total sham,” Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said.

“Termination under the false pretense of performance is an injury that will persist for the working life of each civil servant,” Alsup said. “The stain created by OPM’s pretense will follow each employee through their careers.”

In the same order, Alsup denied a motion for a preliminary injunction by the state of Washington, finding that it lacked standing to sue based on the purported loss of federal services in the state.

Alsup’s ruling comes after the US Supreme Court blocked a March 13 injunction requiring six federal agencies to restore 16,000 workers who were fired while on probationary status, meaning they were recently hired or promoted to new positions. Alsup had ordered those workers reinstated while a lawsuit challenging their firing moved forward.

The high court on April 8 ruled that a group of nonprofits representing the interests of federal agencies likely can’t challenge the firings in court.

The US Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit on April 9 blocked a Maryland federal judge’s injunction that also required federal agencies to rehire probationary workers that lived and worked in 19 states and Washington, D.C.

The case is Am. Fed. of Gov’t Emp. AFL-CIO v. OPM, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-01780, 4/18/25.