A federal judge has admonished the Trump administration for bringing back fired probationary employees — as it has been required to do by court order — and then immediately placing them on leave.
In an order issued Monday, Senior Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California instructed the federal government’s equivalent of human resources to provide information by Tuesday on which rehired workers have been put on leave.
“This is not allowed by the preliminary injunction, for it would not restore the services the preliminary injunction intends to restore,” wrote Alsup, a Clinton appointee.
The judge last week issued a preliminary injunction blocking six agencies, including the departments of Interior and Energy, from terminating probationary employees — generally those who have served in their roles for less than 1 to 2 years.
