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A fired federal worker from Minnesota is part of a class action appeal of the mass terminations being carried out by the Trump administration.

Chris Wicker was deputy director of the Minnesota district office for the U.S. Small Business Administration, before being let go in February. The Air Force veteran had been in the role for only eight months, and he was part of the widespread layoffs of probationary employees in federal agencies.

Wicker is now one of three named appellants challenging those terminations at the Small Business Administration. 

“The SBA’s actions weren’t just unfair — they were illegal,” Wicker said in a news release from Brown Goldstein & Levy, the Maryland-based law firm representing the workers. “SBA employees, including military veterans like me, were hired to serve the public and support small businesses, only to be fired in a chaotic and baseless process. This case isn’t just about getting our jobs back — it’s about holding the government accountable and ensuring that no future workforce is treated this way.”

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The appeal was filed with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which 

 as an “independent, quasi-judicial agency in the executive branch that serves as the guardian of federal merit systems.”

The appeal claims the Trump administration failed to comply with requirements for firing federal workers, and seeks to have the probationary employees reinstated and given back pay.

The law firm said similar appeals are being filed on behalf of terminated probationary employees in other federal agencies.

a federal judge in California on Thursday

 ordered the Trump administration to rehire thousands of probationary employees fired from at least some departments — including Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury. 

The Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge William Alsup said the terminations of those employees were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.

The temporary restraining order came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations as the Republican administration moves to dramatically downsize the federal workforce.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A fired federal worker from Minnesota is part of a class action appeal of the mass terminations being carried out by the Trump administration.


Fired federal worker from Minnesota appeals Trump administration job cuts

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