ATLANTA — A former Atlanta VA employee and veteran, who was among thousands of probationary federal employees fired last month says he is hopeful, yet skeptical, after a federal judge Thursday ordered that the workers be rehired.
“I think it’s a good thing. But like I said, knowing how the business is here in the VA, it is going to take a while before it goes into effect. What I saw on the news, now they are going to appeal it,” said Nelson Feliz.
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Judge William H. Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found that the firing of the probationary workers has been done unlawfully by the Office of Personnel Management.
The judge described the mass firings as “sham.”
Feliz, a 30-year Army veteran, has worked for the Veteran Affairs Administration since 2018. In January of last year, he was promoted from a security background check investigators at the VA hospital to a position in human resources.
Even though he had been in the position for a year, he was still considered a “probationary” employee. He says he had a stellar employment record. Regardless, he told he was fired in email sent from the Office of Personnel Management.
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“How can they do this? There is a procedure when they terminate people,” said Felix.
Following the judge’s order for the Trump administration to rehire the workers terminated from six federal agencies, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the judge in a statement Thursday afternoon, vowing to “immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order.”
Feliz, 61, has been out of work for a month. He says he is encouraged the judge’s ruling but worries it will be dragged through the courts. He says if the case is appealed, he has no idea whether he or the other employee will be paid during the appeals process.
“No one has communicated anything other than, come in and turn your computers in,” said Feliz.
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