Maryland Judge James Breder has ordered tens of thousands of laid-off probationary employees at 18 federal government agencies to be temporarily reinstated, according to an order posted on the court's electronic database.
The departments covered by Breder's order include the State Department, Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor and Transportation.
The Pentagon is not on the list as the court found insufficient evidence of illegal firings at the military. Earlier on Thursday, California Judge William Alsup made a similar ruling for probationary employees at six federal agencies who were laid off under President Donald Trump's plan to cut federal jobs to save the government money. The judges said the government acted illegally in making the mass layoffs.
Breeder delayed by 14 days a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Maryland and 18 other states. They say federal agencies misled probationary employees in their first year or two of service that they were being fired because of the quality of their work, when in fact they were not evaluating the employees but were trying to reduce staff. In addition, state governments were not given advance notice of the massive layoffs, as required by law. The Trump administration has already appealed both cases.