OK, new ground here. Having been in the public sector for much of my career, and lamenting largesse, waste and laziness the entire time, I am all for reducing waste and unnecessary governmental spending. But this is no way to do it. Trump, Musk and their minions are just randomly ruining the lives of thousands of people with no notice and no real justification because, well, they can. These probationary employees? Well we can fire you without notice, we don't give a F whether you are good or your job really is justifiable, you are gone. This Iowa Park Ranger (article below) is a good example. Married with a son and a baby on the way, he is fired with no notice. Just because he was recently hired, so they could get rid of him. Billionaires ruining people's lives just to feed their own egos. No criteria, no thorough agency review, just "we can fire you without notice so we are".
Now - question for you legal types. I have been directly involved in situations where probationary employees had to be let go. And the golden rule was that we didn't have to give a reason, so don't. In fact, we didn't want to give a reason, as the employee could use that to claim wrongful dismissal. So what about this Park Ranger whose dismissal notice said that he "failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment" even though his previous performance review was "exceeded expectations"? How's that dismissal reason going to look as he tries to get another job? Has he not been damaged, and thus will have grounds to sue? I bet the attorneys, like vultures, are already circling all the federal employees who got similar career-damaging notices. Which is apparently thousands. And in this case they should be circling.
But hey this is what the American people wanted. But is it?
Now - question for you legal types. I have been directly involved in situations where probationary employees had to be let go. And the golden rule was that we didn't have to give a reason, so don't. In fact, we didn't want to give a reason, as the employee could use that to claim wrongful dismissal. So what about this Park Ranger whose dismissal notice said that he "failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment" even though his previous performance review was "exceeded expectations"? How's that dismissal reason going to look as he tries to get another job? Has he not been damaged, and thus will have grounds to sue? I bet the attorneys, like vultures, are already circling all the federal employees who got similar career-damaging notices. Which is apparently thousands. And in this case they should be circling.
But hey this is what the American people wanted. But is it?