The case brought by federal employee unions and nonprofit organizations asserts that OPM’s directive to fire probationary employees at the National Science Foundation and other agencies was illegal.
5 March 2025
AGU contact:
Josh Weinberg, [email protected]
WASHINGTON — AGU, the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists, has joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit before the United States District Court, Northern District of California, arguing that the firings of probationary employees in agencies across the federal government directed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management were illegal and that downstream impacts of reduced federal scientific expertise and funding on research has harmed the economy, public health, environment, and national security.
An evidentiary hearing for the court case, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (3:25-cv-01780), is scheduled for Thursday, 13 March.
“The Administration’s callous, indiscriminate firings of critical public servants have weakened the scientific enterprise, which in turn inflicts great harm upon the public,” said Janice R. Lachance, Interim Executive Director and CEO of AGU. “From the air we breathe to the food we eat to protecting our communities in the face of natural disasters, federal science and scientists are vital to safety and our national security.”
AGU joins existing plaintiffs including the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the United Nurses Association of California, and several nonprofit organizations, such as the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and the Western Watersheds Project.
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