Jackie Bensen spoke with that fired worker and an employment
lawyer, who described what steps
likely come next. Well, the
latest is that that we’re
waiting to hear. Former IRS I.T.
Specialist George Johnston
describes his reaction to judges
decisions that he and thousands
of other probationary federal
employees, generally those with
less than a year on the job, but
in some cases two years were
illegally fired by Elon Musk’s
Department of Government
Efficiency. In February, the
judge’s rulings ordered the
government to begin
reinstatement. But how Johnston
and the others no longer have
access to their government
email? Unfortunately, I don’t
know now if they, you know, if
they go and try to find my
former supervisors, they could
get in touch with me. But
there’s a big disconnect between
the powers that be that are
actually executing all air
actions. And your frontline
managers, that type of process
as inefficient and time
consuming as it might be, given
how many people are involved,
might be how the judge’s orders
are put into effect, says
Michelle Bercovici, who is a
partner with Alden Law Group and
represents federal employees
across the globe. What I would
actually expect is that most
people are going to be put on
administrative leave. You will
likely receive some sort of
notice that you’re being placed
on administrative, which is paid
non-duty leave while agencies
figure out how to onboard
everyone back. Johnston says he
has many unanswered questions,
including what it means for
workers who are close to the
conclusion of their probationary
period when they were fired. The
timing is everything. There are
a couple of situations where I
could come back, and I’m still a
probationary employee, meaning
my year hasn’t passed. And then
there are situations where this
kid is processed and I come
after my anniversary date. It’s
unclear if the clock continued
to tick. The Maryland judge’s
order covers probationary
employees. Nationwide, not just