Reinstate all fired employees

'Today, we celebrate': Judge says National Park Service must reinstate all fired employees

By Olivia Hebert

A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the National Park Service and five other federal agencies to immediately reinstate probationary employees who were fired en masse last month, ruling that the Office of Personnel Management had no legal authority to mandate their terminations.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, in a scathing rebuke of the Donald Trump administration’s actions, declared the mass firings a violation of federal law and accused officials of using procedural loopholes to sidestep legal protections. In addition to 1,000 employees who were terminated from the park service, his order affects employees at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury, who were abruptly dismissed in February.

“It is a sad, sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said from the bench. “That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements.”

The judge made clear that while federal agencies can conduct layoffs, they must follow legally defined “reduction-in-force” procedures. He accused the Office of Personnel Management of orchestrating an unlawful workaround by directing departments to fire workers without due process.

As part of his ruling, Alsup barred the office from issuing any further guidance on employee terminations and ordered federal agencies to report back on their compliance with the reinstatement order. He also authorized depositions and further hearings to determine whether existing administrative appeal channels remain viable — or if they have been dismantled.

For park service employees, the ruling represents a hard-won victory, albeit a tenuous one.

“Today’s ruling by Judge Alsup is an important win for National Park Service employees who were wrongfully terminated,” Phil Francis, chair of the Executive Council of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said in a statement provided to SFGATE by Don Neubacher, former superintendent of Yosemite National Park. “These probationary employees must now be reinstated immediately and can return to the important business of protecting the irreplaceable resources and stories found at over 430 units of the National Park System. We know there are more fights ahead as we work to protect parks and federal employees but today, we celebrate this ruling.”

Neubacher noted the toll the mass terminations took on workers’ reputations.

“The probationary firings were illegal, and the reputations of these federal employees were stained by the false claim that they were poor performers.” Neubacher told SFGATE in an email. “The national park employees who were chaotically fired were superb employees and talented leaders. Today, we got justice, and those employees are now reinstated to care for our cherished national parks. I can hear park employees across the country celebrating this ruling.”

While the ruling forces agencies to rehire those fired in February, the already underfunded and understaffed park service could continue to face staffing challenges, according to a news release from the Association of National Park Rangers provided by Executive Director Bill Wade.

“Just today, a judge has ordered that the 1000 permanent employees in the NPS that were illegally fired on February 14 must be reinstated,” the release said. “There are questions about how many will come back. If they moved back to where they were when hired, will they move again? Will they take the reinstatement, knowing that they could still be subject to a reduction in force that is likely to happen?” 

Additionally, the Department of the Interior is preparing for a 30% payroll cut, according to the release, with “additional massive layoffs” expected in the coming months.

The park service has also been ordered to submit its own restructuring plan by April, raising fears that even those reinstated today could be fired again in the near future.

A former park service employee familiar with the situation confirmed to the Hill that such reductions would likely result in short-term losses for rangers and janitorial workers but could have lasting impacts on conservation projects caught in bureaucratic limbo.

If these cuts move forward, visitors to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier and other national parks may see noticeable staffing shortages just as peak tourism season begins. This comes as national park visitation hit a record 331.9 million in 2024.

The uncertainty has already sparked protests across the country, with rangers warning that workforce reductions could disrupt ecosystems and strain park resources.