WASHINGTON, D.C. (Politico) — D.C.-based law firms that specialize in federal employment law say they have gotten thousands of requests from fired federal workers, including those in health care agencies, for legal help to get their jobs back.
But those firms warn the process could take years — with no guarantee of success, Chelsea reports.
Context: The job losses are part of a Trump administration effort led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to trim federal spending. A spokesperson for DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.
Those dismissed at health agencies included probationary NIH, FDA, CDC and CMS staff, including medical device reviewers, frontline health care workers and Medicare employees.
Some termination letters, obtained by POLITICO, justified firing employees because their “performance has not been adequate.”
Since the firings, 2,600 workers have filled out interest forms from law firm James & Hoffman regarding legal action, partner Danny Rosenthal said but had no further comment. Greg Rinckey, founding partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, which specializes in federal employment law, told Pulse the firm has also received hundreds of calls from workers seeking assistance.
A third firm, Alden Law, is asking fired workers to provide them with their personal information, their job title and agency, and a copy of their termination notice to support a complaint the firm is exploring to file with the Office of Special Counsel, per an email viewed by POLITICO. Alden did not respond to requests for comment.
Still, firms warn it could be a rocky road ahead. A federal judge has allowed the mass firings to continue, denying a request for a temporary pause last week. Rinckey suggests that the termination letters’ wording could be an attempt to avoid the so-called reduction-in-force language. A reduction in force is a specific regulatory process to dismiss federal workers that comes with legal protections.
And while some workers might be eligible to appeal their case to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an entity housed in the Office of Special Counsel created to protect federal employees from being fired for partisan reasons, Rinckey warns it might not be able to do much.
“I don’t think they’re going to find an alliance with the MSPB,” Rinckey said, because they could argue that the cuts were nondiscriminatory across the board.
