In an interview with KNX News Radio Los Angeles anchor Brian Douglas, Michal Shinnar discusses a pivotal court ruling that may force the federal government to reinstate tens of thousands of probationary federal employees who were fired by the Trump administration.
The landmark decision by a federal judge in Northern California ordered several key departments—including Veterans Affairs, Energy, Defense, Interior and Agriculture—to immediately rehire fired probationary employees. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by employee unions, which challenged the legality of the mass firings during the Trump administration’s push to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
During the interview, Shinnar discusses the general rules and regulations governing “reduction in force” firings of probationary federal workers, whether the Trump administration been following those rules, what the ruling means for federal workers, and the implications the decision has on cases pending in other jurisdictions.
“This is a pretty untested area of law because it really hasn’t happened before,” said Shinnar. She notes that the outcome of the California case could set a precedent for how such cases are handled in the future.
For more information on the ruling and what it means for the future of probationary federal workers, listen to the full interview:
